This article describes what Ultrapeers are and what they do.
A common question among peer-to-peer file sharing users is “What are Ultrapeers?” To understand this, you first need to understand how the Gnutella network operates. If you don’t already know, Gnutella is a peer-to-peer file sharing network where millions of files are exchanged on any given day. One of the most popular applications used on the network is LimeWire. Gnutella is decentralized, which means there is no central server that knows which computer has a file or what files are available.
Since there is no central server, what is going to handle the load? This is where Ultrapeers come into play. Ultrapeers route the searches. If you aren’t an Ultrapeer, then you’re a leaf node or a peer. Leaf nodes and peers connect to Ultrapeers. Once a leaf node or a peer connects to an Ultrapeer, it can then begin searching the network.
Once a search is initiated, the leaf node or peer sends the search to the Ultrapeers it’s connected to, the Ultrapeers then decide where to send the search.
Once the Ultrapeer finds a computer that has the file, it sends the IP address of that computer to the leaf node or peer and the file transfer is initiated.
Thu, Jul 9, 2009, by J White
File Sharing