Peer-to-peer

P2P redirects here. For the telecommunications term PTP, see Point-to-Point.P2P can also stand for Pay-to-play in gaming.

Operation of peer-to-peer networks

Three major types of P2P network are:

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Pure P2P:

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• Peers act as clients and server
• There is no central server
• There is no central router

Hybrid P2P:

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• Has a central server that keeps information on peers and responds to requests for that information.
• Peers are responsible for hosting the information as the central server does not store files, for letting the central server know what files they want to share and for downloading its shareable resources to peers that request it.
• Route terminals are used addresses, which are referenced by a set of indices to obtain an absolute address.

Mixed P2P:

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• Has both pure and hybrid characteristics