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P2P Now and Then

Posted by Zonk on from the distributing-stuff-in-little-pieces dept.

brajesh writes "There was an earlier story on Slashdot regarding eDonkey overtaking BitTorrent in P2P traffic. The BBC story was based on this press release by CacheLogic. To expand on this, there is a comprehensive analysis of P2P trends in 2005 by the same firm. The report makes some insights into the present and future of P2P, particularly interesting in the light of recent steps taken by BBC -BBC iMP and others. The analysis also makes some observations about the break-up of P2P content."

5 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. They missed Share for Japanese users by Dracil · · Score: 3, Informative

    (Includes Winny)

    Not surprising since the program interface is in Japanese by default (and even with an English interface, you'll most likely still have to search for the files in Japanese if you want to actually find anything).

    But with its relative anonymity, plausible deniability (think Freenet), while maintaining really high speeds (although this may be more a factor of Japanese having much better broadband than we do), I wouldn't be surprised if this was their main source for P2P as well as a glimpse at the future of P2P as lawsuits just drive P2P users into using networks that afford a bit better protection.

  2. A couple of other interesting points.. by Marnhinn · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just some things I noticed...

    • P2P = 60% of All Traffic
    • Edonkey is gaining in popularity (and first in usage - in many locations), Bittorrent is next, then Fasttrack and lastly Gnutella
    • Edonkey Localized, More languages (and hence has more use) - localized versions have a large effect as seen in South Korea (Prune)
    • Video seems to dominate Fasttrack, eDonkey and Bittorrent as what is being shared.
    • Audio dominates Gnutells
    • Of Audio being shared, MP3 = 64%, OGG = 12%, WMA = 22% (roughly)
    • Of Video being shared - RM = 9%, MPEG = 15%, and they "say" that Microsoft has 75% (didn't know Xvid / Divx was an MS Product)
    • Of Other files types, there is a dominance of Unix file types (Linux Distros and whatnot - almost exclusively found on Bittorrent)
    --
    There is always a frontier where there is an open and willing mind
  3. Hardware for P2P User Identification by airherbe · · Score: 4, Informative


    CacheLogic, the company which did this "comprehensive analysis" of P2P also happens to sell network hardware which does "Deep Packet Inspection" (read the specs on the device here).

    Innoculously, the technology can efficiently route packets to ensure better QoS, elimination of network congestion, and even provide cached streaming.

    But, one has to wonder if this technology, when used by the likes of the RIAA/MPAA would allow massive consolidation of data on P2P users. The above device specifically analyzes the content of the packet -- it's not a far cry that a company would create software for a device like this, which could automatically detect "flagged" files/hashes, and report them to "copyright owners" who have subscribed to the service.

  4. Re:Can somebody enlighten me? by suitepotato · · Score: 5, Informative
    I run eMule on Windows and aMule on Linux (Fedora Core 3). I've downloaded over 100GB from that network so far of various things..

    • Always make sure to share some of your files with people. Don't move them out of a shared folder the instant you finish getting them. Don't squelch all uploading to others. That's considered "leeching".
    • Always make sure to check the file availibility. If the numbers are close to 1-5 you're not going to be getting it quick. If they are 0 showing online, you may wait forever.
    • Always check for the same file being listed under another name with larger availibility. Many files will be out there in different incarnations and the correct version will usually be the one with the most people sharing it.
    • Always make sure not to set everything to High priority, only those things which truly are and always make sure to swap all A4AF to an important file every so often. The clients tend to forget to recheck every so often for hosts popping online since the original download was entered.
    • Always make sure on broadband connections to carefully control upstream usage as unfettered upstream usage is a good way to get choked by your provider. I keep mine to 25% of my upstream maximum.

    eMule/aMule work fine for me. Way better than bittorrent ever has.
    --
    If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
  5. Re:MPG, Microsoft, or Real? by Idealius · · Score: 2, Informative

    FYI AVI is a generic container where the media may include many differing codecs with almost no limits. The mpg, wmv and rv formats follow a much more strict standard in contrast.

    http://www.thozie.de/avimaster/avi_faq.htm

    ^ Look here for more info.