Quick Glossary
Dropped Packets
Packets (i.e. small data "packages") are occasionally
dropped, or lost, on the network for various reasons. For instance,
two nodes may be communicating at widely disparate transfer rates.
GUID (Global Unique Identifier)
The GUID is a radomised string that prevents duplicate messages
from being sent by uniquely identifying a particular message or
node on a P2P network.
Host Catcher
Your computer’s P2P software uses a host catcher to track
the available P2P hosts you can connect to.
LAN (Local Area Network)
A LAN is a network comprised of a group of computers in an enclosed
environment such as a home, office or classroom. This allows the
networked computers to share resources (e.g. printers, software
applications, documents, a broadband Internet connection).
Networks
In general, networks enable computers and other devices to communicate
with each other. A network can be as simple as two computers sharing
one printer or as complex as a group of LANs connected to each other
across transatlantic fiber optic cables.
Ping
Every time your computer connects to a P2P network, it sends out
a “ping” request to other nodes so that other computers
on the network are aware of your connection. Nodes that receive
a ping return a “pong” back to your computer to confirm
the ping request.
Pong
This is the reply of a node that receives a “ping” request
from newly connected computers on the network. The pong lists the
host’s IP address, network port, and the number of files available
for sharing and their combined size.
Port
Applications on a computer communicate on the net through an assigned
port number. The default port for P2P is 6346, thus a P2P program
is described as “listening” on port 6346. Since this
is a user-defined setting, this can be changed to any available
port number without causing any communication problems or conflicts.
XML-RPC
XML-RPC is a widespread web service protocol that utilizes XML technology
to encode calls and messages using HTTP. Because XML-RPC is based
on HTTP, it allows programmers to develop Internet applications
that work within firewall or proxied environments, the underlying
network structure of many file-sharing systems.