Top P2P Filesharing Software

1
Top P2P File-sharing Software (some of them )
2
eDonkey/Overnet

• Especially popular in Europe, the two P2P
  networks eDonkey and Overnet combined support a
  large base of users and files
• The eDonkey P2P client connects to both networks
• the Overnet client is being merged into future
  releases of eDonkey
• eDonkey is a P2P network that relies on a
  centralized server structure, which holds the
  file index of shared files
• Unlike Napster, the dedicated server software is
  freely available and therefore about 80 eDonkey
  servers exist
• eDonkey runs on Windows, Linux and Macintosh
  computers
• The free version of eDonkey contains embedded
  advertising but none of the dreaded "spyware"
  found in some free file sharing software

3
eDonkey/Overnet (Cont.)

• Due to the fact that every user has to
  authenticate with one of these servers, the
  overall number of users is known at each time
• On an average day in February 2005 there were
  between 2.8 and 3.8 million hosts connected to
  the eDonkey network
• sharing around 350 million files
• There exist several clients for the eDonkey
  network
• The most used ones are the official eDonkey2000
  client by eDonkeys creator MetaMachine and the
  even more popular eMule client
• One of the main reasons for the popularity of
  eMule is its open source policy which permits the
  addition of useful features to the clients
• One of the main vulnerability of the eDonkey
  network is its centralized server structure
• Therefore the developers of eDonkey2000 and eMule
  started to integrate another, completely
  decentralized network into their client
• For the eDonkey2000 client this is Overnet and
  for eMule Kademlia

4
eMule

• The eMule project started with the goal of
  building an improved free eDonkey client
• eMule has achieved a large user base, connecting
  both to the eDonkey P2P file sharing network and
  a few others
• It contains no advertising, and its software base
  is well-maintained by an open source development
  team
• The chief limitation of eMule's P2P file sharing
  program is its speed
• eMule typically performs downloading much slower
  than other P2P clients

5
Gnutella

• A Gnutella client has 4-10 TCP connections to
  other peers
• For signaling traffic UDP is used and to make use
  of the benefits of server based networks a
  ultra-peer state was created
• Ultra-peer status is self assigned by powerful
  peers and provides some extra functionality
  compared to ordinary nodes
• There exist many freely available Gnutella
  clients
• Some of the most popular are
• Limewire
• Bearshare
• Morpheus
• Shareaza
• It has the most increasing number of users
• It has a very pleasant GUI and connects also to
  eDonkey and BitTorrent

6
Shareaza

• Shareaza is an up-and-coming P2P file sharing
  program
• This client offers an extremely powerful search
  engine capable of connecting to multiple popular
  P2P networks including eDonkey, BitTorrent and
  Gnutella
• Shareaza file sharing software includes
  intelligence for detecting fake and/or corrupted
  files
• The free Shareaza download also contains no ads
  or spyware
• As the installed base of Shareaza client users
  grows
• expect Shareaza to become an even better P2P file
  sharing program

7
WinMX

• WinMX offers a large P2P file sharing network and
  a feature-rich client program that has evolved
  over years of development
• True, WinMX has a reputation for being complex
  and more difficult to use than some alternatives
• However, WinMX also provides power to users in
  managing their downloads, and it offers a wide
  selection of music (MP3) files
• Some WinMX users report waiting in long queues to
  download popular files
• WinMX software runs only on the Windows family of
  operating systems

8
Limewire

• The Limewire P2P file sharing program connects to
  the Gnutella P2P network
• Limewire client software is widely recognized for
  its clean user interface that does not contain
  adware
• Sometimes billed as the fastest file sharing
  program
• Limewire claims to offer relatively good search
  and download performance
• Free Limewire software downloads are available
  for Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating
  systems
• Limewire Pro pay clients also exist

9
Morpheus

• Morpheus P2P client application downloads exist
  in both free and paid Ultra versions
• Compared to the free version, the Morpheus Ultra
  download additionally removes bundled advertising
• Morpheus clients are capable of searching
• Gnutella2
• FastTrack
• eDonkey2K and
• Overnet P2P networks.

10
Ares

• Ares is a full-featured free P2P network with its
  own file sharing programs including Ares Galaxy
• Ares clients support decentralized music and
  other file sharing and include a built-in chat
  service
• Ares strives to offer the simplicity of Kazaa
  clients with no adware and fast connection times

11
BearShare

• The BearShare P2P file sharing program is a
  popular free software client for the Gnutella P2P
  network
• Both free and pay downloads of BearShare file
  sharing programs exist

12
KaZaA

• The FastTrack network has only three official
  clients
• KaZaA
• Grokster
• iMesh
• The Kazaa software family (including the Kazaa
  Lite family of applications) has been the
  single-most popular P2P file sharing program /
  system of all time
• Kazaa is fast and easy to use
• However Kazaa software and the FastTrack network
  it utilizes appear to be declining rapidly in
  popularity and availability of files
• Some have criticized the intrusiveness of
  "adware" embedded in free Kazaa clients
• Others have complained about the frequency of
  encountering fake files on FastTrack

13
File sharing solutions

• eDonkey2000
• FileCat
• Spyster
• Gnucleus
• SongSpy
• Toadnode
• FileAngel
• Gnutmeg
• Shoutcast
• Icecast
• Socks
• OpenNap
• P2Pwg

• AudioGalaxy
• Freenet
• Direct connect
• Blocks
• Mojo Nation
• Scour
• Gnutella
• Bodetella
• CuteMX
• Freeamp
• Riscter
• Ezpeer
• LimeWire

• Napigator
• iMesh
• Aimster
• JNerve
• Jungle Monkey
• BadBlue
• KaZaA
• Rapigator
• Morpheus
• Softwax
• Wrapster
• Gnumm
• startups

14
Importance of File Sharing

• File sharing apps 5 of Top 10 downloads
• By 2005 43 of broadband households
• Digital photos
• Digital video
• Calendars
• Addresses

15
Netflow Statistics
Students usage One hour Incoming Usage by
Protocol
16
Conclusions

• P2P connects devices at the edge of the Internet
• Popular in industry
• Napster, Kazaa, etc. allow users to share data
• Legal issues still to be resolved
• Exciting research in academia
• DHTs (Chord, Pastry, etc.)
• Improve properties/performance of overlays
• Applications other than file sharing are being
  developed