Download FILE SHARING: the path to torrents

FILE SHARING
TECHNOLOGIES
By
R. Li Casanova
COSC 352-001
File Sharing : Topics For Discussion
History:
What started it all?
Examination of Major Network Technologies:
How did we share then?
How are we sharing currently?
The Outcome of Mass Media Distribution:
What impacts have there been?
What does it all mean for us?
File Sharing Technology
What started it all?
Through the ages, people have always been motivated
by the need to share information.
3 Three Things fuel the evolution of file sharing
technology:
 Existence of information we desire to obtain.
 Evolving technologies make mass distribution of info
possible.
 We want info or data someone else is willing to share.
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
1972 – IBM Creates the 8” Floppy Diskette
People begin to share data through transportable
media (sneaker net)
(And some people
complain about the size
of thumb drives.)
[Photo: schmoller.net]
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
1979 – UseNet is developed
(Duke University Graduate Students)
A precursor to modern-day forums and blogs. (No –
Friendster is not the grandfather of Facebook.)
Usenet provided:
Newsgroups: threaded discussions allowing binary
code. This was revolutionary because users
could post binary files and the files could
subsequently be “downloaded” / reconstructed.
Network file sharing gains an outlet.
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
How Usenet works:
Distributed computer interfacing system
Variant NNTP protocol: Server / Client-Server comm
Loop control handled by trace list and Message ID list
Images: http://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/e-mail-book/usenet-news.html
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
1981 – MP3 compression is developed in Germany.
Lossless compression algorithm used to reduce
audio file size and preserve quality.
This is a groundbreaking technology: nothing has
compelled the evolution of file sharing technology more
than music!
A song distributed pre-1997: .wav format, 50MB+++
MP3: 3-5MB (or less, dependent on quality)
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
Mid 90’s – IRC Chat
IRC Used TCP/IP, the Internet, to facilitate live chat. IRC
Servers connected to each other for expansion of the
IRC network.
Why is IRC important? Well, it fueled the fire of the
desire for people to social network via chat, and people
also used IRC to distribute files! Even MP3s were later
transferred over IRC.
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
1998 – The MP3 Revolution
FTP initially favored for file transfer of MP3s
MP3.com
Hosted indexed MP3s by independent artists
Legal, free - yet still controversial!
Audiogalaxy
MP3 index/search engine. Started off as a
simple peer-to-peer search utility, but was used to
share copyrighted MP3s.
File Sharing Technology
The History of File Sharing
How FTP works:
TCP/IP used for data transfer: usually file UL/DL
User connects to server;
Files transferred in ASCII.
User’s FTP client issues commands
to server.
Connections limited by bandwidth.
Image: ehow.com
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Network Technology
1999 – Napster by Shawn Fanning
First Peer-to-Peer system
Server Based Network
P2P Based Network
Napster’s ONLY goal was to make finding and
downloading MP3s easier! Servers facilitated this.
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Network Technology
2000 – The Gnutella Protocol
A file sharing network
decentralized in nature.
Techniques employed:
Connection propagation
Bootstrapping
Ultrapeer nodes
decentralized network: little to no server intervention
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Network Technology
What was the difference between Napster’s network
and the Gnutella Network topologies?
Openp2p.com
This was key in determining legal/illegal network logical
and physical structure.
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Network Technology
2001 – FastTrack (Kazaa, Morpheus, Grokster)
P2P. Supernode decentralized network.
Supernode: any node in the network that also functions
as a connection proxy server / relay.
The use of supernodes to increase efficiency in the
decentralized network topology set FastTrack apart from
Gnutella.
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Network Technology
2001 – Bitorrent
Peer-to-peer. Revolutionized File Sharing
Massive files transferred
efficiently.
How does it work?
--Seeding
--Exponential connection
gathering
Users now share more than
just music!
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing Technology Impacts
Recent studies suggest that Bittorrent accounts for 2755% of ALL internet traffic?! What the…what?
Consider these other impacts:
•
Internet users possess infinite control.
Expression is limited only by imagination.
•
The War of Copyright and Intellectual Property
All aspects of the economy influenced by users’
unparalleled methods of distribution.
Ethics – our duty as Network Admins to protect
our precious data??
File Sharing Technology
File Sharing: Then to Now
Facts to Remember:
Network Technology for file sharing has been greatly
impacted by the endgame: Music, Movies, social
networks. It continues to change based on multimedia
user demand.
ARPANET, USENET, FTP, Gnutella, Bittorrent:
All either influenced, evolved, or discarded by the
interested parties using them to share files.
File Sharing Technology
References
"Distributed Systems Topologies: Part 1 - O'Reilly Media." OpenP2P.com. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
<http://openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/12/14/topologies_one.html>.
"File Sharing." Wikipedia. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing>.
"How the Usenet News Protocols Work." People.dsv.su.se. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. <http://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/e-mail-book/usenetnews.html>.
"Internet Relay Chat Protocol." RFC-Editor Webpage. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. <http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1459.txt>.
"Internet Relay Chat." Wikipedia. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat>.
"The IRC Prelude." Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Help. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. <http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/new2irc.html#what>.
"On the Long-term Evolution of the Two-Tier Gnutella Overlay." Daniel Stutzbach. Web.
"Regarding Gnutella - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)." The GNU Operating System. Web. 02 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gnutella.html>.
"Using Usenet - Useful Tool or Dead Technology?" Lippeatt.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.lippeatt.com/professional/usenet.asp>.
"What Is Usenet." Usenet.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. <http://www.usenet.com/usenet.html>.