(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 1

Comparing Peer to PeerFile Sharing Technologies

David Strom, david@strom.com

O’Reilly P2P DC Conference

Sept 2001

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 2

Summary

• Brief history of P2P file sharing

• The Post-Napster world

• Technology examples

• Business models

• Motivations for using P2P file sharing

• Corporate strategies

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 3

Brief history of file sharing

• Non-music related

• Music-related

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Non-music related

• Set up a file server on Netware, Unix, NT

• Set up FTP server on the Internet

• Upload files to various newsgroups

• Send email around with attachments

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 5

Music-related FS

• First came used record stores

• Copy a CD to tapes

• Then came MP3s

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Remember 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!

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 7

Music-related FS (con’t)

• MP3s were quickly followed by busy ftp servers and ratios

• Then Napster

• Quickly followed by lots o’ lawyers

• Other transports and networks, like AOL IM (Aimster)

• Non-centralized directories (Gnutella)

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 8

Problems with music FS solved by Napster

• 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.

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 9

Post-Napster world

• Gnutella clients (LimeWire, BearShare)

• FastTrack clients (MusicCity, KaZaa)

• Groove

• Others that don’t have anything to do with music and pre-teens

• RIAA non-starters like SDMA

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 10

Silly question

If the music companies could figure out a technology that could allow reasonable per-song payments (like 25 cents), would all this industry ever happened?

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 11

But the real killer P2P FS app:

• PORN!

• Porndigger is one example

• KaZaa et al. allow image/video searches!

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Comparing KaZaa and LimeWire

• L: Multiple concurrent searches

• K: Better and faster results

• L: more users, K: more files

• K: better traffic/path analysis

• L: Java sluggishness in UI

• Neither will replace Napster!

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Common elements of all P2P FS technologies

• Easy to search and share files

• Uses http and ftp protocols

• Each user's PC acts as client and server

• A community of users with common goals and interests -- maybe

• Build upon P2P services to increase the overall value of the system

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 14

The metrics for P2P FS

• Searchable directory

• Monitor/control incoming/outgoing traffic

• Access controls and scope of file sharing on each PC’s disk

• Speed of locating other peers and keeping connection up

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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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But the real reason these services are proliferating:

• I want your (music, porn, whatever) files!

• Sharing my files with you isn’t a real motivation – yet.

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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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Review these concepts for new P2P FS technologies

• Centralize nothing so lawyers can’t get you

• UI will become more important as competition increases

• Routing around Internet blockades is important

• The shared collection is critical if the community is going to thrive

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 19

Let’s look at non-P2P FS

• Mydocsonline or similar “Internet hard disk”

• PGP secure email, maybe

• Quickbase.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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One contender: Groove Networks

• Authentication is always on and setup is easy

• Different workspaces for different collections of people

• No browser, email file swapping needed

• Supports a wide variety of tools and information sharing models

• Great for sharing files between home/work PC

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Other aspects of Groove

• Two-way sharing model vs. sons-of-Napster steal-this-file approach

• Not clogged with people looking to download music or porn files, yet

• May be overkill for simple home/work file sharing, though

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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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Motivations: the network edge

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

• Edge is more reliable than core servers from application perspective (sometimes)

• P2P FS 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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P2P FS creates new kinds of “edge-to-edge” networks

• Only need a portion of the Internet infrastructure to be working

• Really targeted at small collections of people that need intense collaboration

• My desktop needs to talk to your desktop

• Need to get around firewalls, VPNs, and other corporate protection

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 26

Controlling your own network destiny

• Ask your IT department for the capability to bring up a new file server in the next hour without prior budget approval

• Now imagine being laughed out of the room

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 27

Advantages of P2P FS

• 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?

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 28

Drawbacks to P2P FS

• 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 Groove 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

(c) David Strom Inc. 2001 30

Places for more information

• Copies of this presentation

strom.com/pubwork/P2P9-01.ppt• My review of Groove: strom.com/pubwork/varbiz.html

• List of P2P FS technologies:

4arrow.com/users/my/html/sections.php?

op=viewarticle&artid=204