Peer-to-peer web hosting is using
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
networking to distribute access to
webpages.
This is differentiated from the
client–server model
The client–server model is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate ov ...
which involves the distribution of web data between dedicated
web server
A web server is computer software and underlying Computer hardware, hardware that accepts requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, co ...
s and user-end client computers. Peer-to-peer web hosting may also take the form of P2P
web cache
A web cache (or HTTP cache) is a system for optimizing the World Wide Web. It is implemented both client-side and server-side. The caching of multimedia and other files can result in less overall delay when web browser, browsing the Web.
Parts o ...
s and
content delivery network
A content delivery network (CDN) or content distribution network is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and performance ("speed") by distributing the service spat ...
s.
Comparison
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
web hosting does not differentiate between clients and servers, all nodes can request and respond to services. All Nodes can store data, they can both create and consume resources, meaning that a hosting's capacity to share resources will increase alongside the number of nodes present. Its often less costly than client-server web hosting. Peer-to-peer sharing is meant to help save bandwidth when sharing large files between two machines, as it is incredibly efficient at sharing data. This method can be risky due the lack of security, many files found and shared on peer-to-peer sites can be illegal or dangerous to your operating machine.
Client-server web hosting does differentiate between clients and servers, a central server is used to store data and respond to the services requested by a client. Client-server networks are more stable though they do start to fall off as client numbers increase. It's much easier to regulate data as all data is stored within the central
web server
A web server is computer software and underlying Computer hardware, hardware that accepts requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, co ...
and is accessible to the host.
See also
*
WebRTC
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a free and open-source project providing web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC) via application programming interfaces (APIs). It allows audio and video communication and ...
- a web standard for peer-to-peer communication between web browsers
*
Freesite – a site on Freenet
*
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
*
Decentralized computing
Decentralized computing is the allocation of resources, both hardware and software, to each individual workstation, or office location. In contrast, centralized computing exists when the majority of functions are carried out or obtained from ...
Notes
References
File sharing
Peer-to-peer computing
Web hosting
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