Alternatives
Version 0.6 of the Gnutella protocol mandates query routing. The query routing specification explains how the ideas of the original research are implemented. Other file sharing networks, such as the Kad network, use distributed hash tables to index files and for keyword searches. BitTorrent creates individual overlay networks for sharing individual files (or archives). Searches are performed by other mechanisms, such as locating torrent files indexed on a web site. A similar mechanism can be use on the Gnutella network with magnet links. For instance Bitzi provides a web interface to search for magnet links.
Earlier P2P networks, such as Napster, used a centralized database to locate files. This does not have a scaling problem, but the central server is a single point of failure.
Read more about this topic: Query Flooding
Famous quotes containing the word alternatives:
“Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman’s natural fitness for the career of mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
“The literal alternatives to [abortion] are suicide, motherhood, and, some would add, madness. Consequently, there is some confusion, discomfort, and cynicism greeting efforts to “find” or “emphasize” or “identify” alternatives to abortion.”
—Connie J. Downey (b. 1934)
“The last alternatives they face
Of face, without the life to save,
Being from all salvation weaned
A stag charged both at heel and head:
Who would come back is turned a fiend
Instructed by the fiery dead.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)