(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 1

Peer to Peer

David Strom, david@strom.com

PC Expo/ eBiz presentations

June 2001

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 2

Summary

• What is P2P?

• Learning from Napster, Groove

• Business models

• Motivations for using P2P

• Technology examples

• Corporate strategies

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What is P2P?

• Sharing computing resources, such as files, CPU cycles, and applications

• Apps are both server and client on a distributed network

• Makes some use of Internet protocols/standards

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Examples of P2P technologies

• Simplest example is Windows/Mac built-in file sharing: remember WfW?

• Napster/Gnutella/Aimster/etc.

• Chat products like ICQ, AIM, Bantu, OMNI, etc.

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Other examples

• Seti@Home (search for ET)• Globus.org (distributed science)• McAfee ASAP (anti-virus protection)• Lightshare (desktop auctions) • Groove Networks (P2P Notes)• Uroam (remote access)• Roku, VxPort (file sharing) • OpenCola (info collection)

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How does P2P leverage the existing Internet infrastructure?

• Builds on ftp, http, etc. so can pass information freely through routers and firewalls

• Doesn’t require new domain name services or other authentication processes

• May make use of email and chat protocols as well• No specialized knowledge to setup new servers

and services• No network administrators and other IT resources

involved

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What is Napster?

• Easy to share digital music files

• Uses http and ftp protocols

• Each user's PC acts as client and server

• It creates a community of users with common goals and interests

• It builds upon P2P services to increase the overall value of the system

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How did we obtain music before?

• Go to record store

• Deal with surly underaged clerks

• Try to find the right CD

• Take it home, play on our stereos

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Enter MP3 downloads

• Locate an ftp server with music on it

• Try to connect to the server (often busy)

• Upload a few songs first

• Then hopefully find the right song and download it

• And much more work to host your own music ftp server!

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Problems with the old method

• ftp sites often busy

• Had to learn the ins and outs of ftp client software

• Uploading requirement was onerous

• Search tools crude, could often only find ftp sites, not songs

• Setting up servers painful too.

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Shirky’s list of lessons learned from Napster

• Centralize what you need to make your business model work

• A poor user interface isn’t an issue, especially if people can still get things done

• It routes around network admins/firewalls

• It allows people to create their own namespaces without specialized knowledge

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How do you share info now?

• Mydocsonline or similar “Internet hard disk”

• PGP secure email, maybe

• Yahoo Calendars or similar

• WebAddressBook.com

• Maybe even a web-based Office suite like TeamOn, FreeDesk or Blox

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Problems

• Motley collection difficult to manage• Not everyone is willing to work with

multiple tools• Authentication is difficult – multiple logins• Still need to download lots of software,

despite “100 % browser” emphasis• Tiresome email exchanges of documents• Security by obscurity

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Enter Groove Networks

• Authentication is always on• Different workspaces for different collections

of people• Setup is easy• No browser, email file swapping needed• Supports a wide variety of tools and

information sharing models• Great for sharing files between home and work

PCs

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How distributed does your network have to be?

• Napster: central server to authenticate and track users

• Gnutella: everything is distributed

• Aimster: uses AOL IM directory to authenticate/track users

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What business models make sense?

• Advertising

• User charges

• Corporate site licenses

• Core technology licenses

• ISP/ASP volume purchases

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Dale Dougherty’s thoughts on business models

“All the P2P players are hoping that their research leads them to establish a new way of doing things. At that point, the winner will be obvious and the business model will be crystal clear.”

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Signs that P2p is maturing

• Porn industry file swapping services (PornDigger, PORN.com)

• Already seeing downside articles in the press

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Motivations for implementing P2P

• Add intelligence to network edge devices

• Convenience and control

• Altruism

• Free up bandwidth

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Motivations: the network edge

• Right now network edge devices are underused or dumb when it comes to working with the network fabric itself

• P2P adds intelligence, increased utilization at the edge

• Makes it easier for people to get more work done, just like c. 1981 PCs

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Controlling your own network destiny

• Ask your IT department for the capability to have real-time conversations with Internet users directly from your PC, that you wanted this set up within the hour, and that you had no budget for it.

• Now imagine being laughed out of the room. (from Shirky)

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Advantages of ICQ

• No need for setting up IP addresses, DNS configuration, firewall rules, web server hosting co-location agreements, IT policy pronouncements, lengthy approvals up the IT command structure, IT R&D review, IT rollouts, …

• Do you detect a pattern here?

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Motivations: convenience and control

• Stress-testing web sites over the Internet, from Exodus/United Devices

• Shared-processing model frees up resources in their test lab for other projects, also provides more realism for test scenarios

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Motivations: altruism

“My goal was to harness wasted CPU cycles that to me were just warming the air. I also liked the fact that I would be participating in an interesting community and doing some good science." -- SETI user

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Motivations: bandwidth

• McAfee ASAP uses P2P to download virus pattern files from local users, saving on wide-area connections

• The more you distribute the network, the less bandwidth you need from any centralized locations

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Drawbacks to P2P

• Security loopholes

• Loss of control over desktop activities

• Some companies don’t like to share and play with others

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Corporate strategies

• Download and try Napster or uRoam• Compare with downloading music or

PC/Anywhere for functionality• Examine your own programs for file transfer

components that could benefit from peering• Examine whether you can benefit from shared

processing models • Setup a trial Groove workgroup and project team

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Places for more information

• O’Reilly P2P conference: www.openP2P.com/pub/a/P2P/conference/

• My review of Groove: strom.com/pubwork/varbiz.html