P2P communication and collaboration is an emerging technology that enables two or more clients to discover, connect, and communicate with one another without the need for a server to manage the interactions. Solutions built on P2P technologies offer several key advantages when compared to client-server communication models:
- Reduced reliance on servers lowers deployment costs and complexity of communication solutions.
- Direct client-to-client communication provides faster data transmission and offers greater flexibility such as deployment on disconnected or ad-hoc networks.
- Topological support for clustered systems, which enhance system resilience.
Key areas of adoption for P2P include inter-personal communication (including ad-hoc meetings), content distribution, gaming, computer resource sharing, and home and office productivity. P2P networks do not adequately support streaming for most multimedia requirements.
Windows Vista® has been designed to support P2P communications in a more robust and efficient manner. A comprehensive set of APIs are provided to develop P2P solutions that support the following functionality: contact management, naming and discovery; session initiation; and, multi-party communication. These greatly assist the developer in writing applications to track presence, send invites, discover local users, and manage contacts. For example, Windows Vista™ Messenger makes extensive use of these APIs to locate, establish, and manage communications with networked neighbors.
No comments:
Post a Comment