5. First and Second Generation of Peer-to-Peer Systems

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks appeared roughly around the year 2000 when a broadband Internet infrastructure (even at the network edge) became widely available. Other than traditional networks Peer-to-Peer networks do not rely on a specific infrastructure offering transport services. Instead they form “overlay structures” focusing on content allocation and distribution based on TCP or HTTP connections. Whereas in a standard Client-Server configuration content is stored and provided only via some central server(s), Peer-to-Peer networks are highly decentralized and locate a desired content at some participating peer and provide the corresponding IP address of that peer to the searching peer. The download of that content is then initiated using a separate connection, often using HTTP. Thus, the high load usually resulting for a central server and its surrounding network is avoided leading to a more even distribution of load on the underlying physical network. On the other hand, such networks are typically subject to frequent changes because peers join and leave the network without any central control.