If gnutella is really a peer-2-peer protocol, why do I need servers/hosts in order to get a list of hosts? where does the servers get the users from? and what happens if the servers fall?

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Babaler...

the "hosts" you first connectect to provide IP address of recent users of the net. this updates your "found host list" (really other Servants).
2/27/2001
very technical infomation can be found at
http://www.limewire.com/index.htm
check the developers section

MY PLAIN ENGLISH VERSION:

As I understand the "Gnutella Network" I am a Servant, my Servant is running LIMEWIRE (a clone) on my MAC(ahh) connected to my internet provider(IP) on a 56kb modem. The ISP connects me to the InterNet, to another ISP which can be my browser, other Servants, etc. Because of my speed (56kb) limewire recomends 3 connections to other Servants, be they PPC or MAC running any clone or speed doesn't matter. My Servant tries to connect to IP address's of other Servants that have been on the network. When/if connections are made my Servant gets connected 5(TTL) levels deep. The TTL set the limit on how many servants my Servant msgs go through. My Servant tells the Sernavts I am connected to about my connection and they propagate it through the network untill the TTL expires (each Servant deletes 1 from the TTL of my msg). Then each Servant sends my Servant a reply msg stating what their connection is, if their TTL had not expired my Servant sends their msg to the other Servants I am connected to (2) and they in turn pass it on untill the TTL expires. I can search for files on about 3(connection) 5(TTL's) deep, 3 to the 5th power (apx 250) other servants (assuming an all modem network). When I start a search my Servant tell the Servants I am connected to who I am (IPaddress), what I want, my TTL and other info. The search is propogated untill the TTL expires, if any of the servants has a file the matches the search they send a msg back to my Servant telling me the info about the file and their IPaddress, this may take three minutes to complete. If I find a file I want to down load my Servant connects directly to that Servant and requests the load.

Didn't get any results from your search with 3 mins? Notice that the number of host (Servants) you are connected to has been changing! Those are all new Servants that may have the file you are looking for. Most other seaches we use tell us if their are 0 results THIS DOSN'T, it just tells you who has what you may want, with in your TTL.


ISP: Internet Service Provider, who your modem called (local connector to WWW).
TTL: , Time To Live, how many Sernavts Msgs proprogate through.
Client: A clone of Gnutella software
Servant: All the ISP's connected or trying to connect to a Gnutella Network. All are both host and user's, their is not a one cpu controlling the network, all the Servants are! WE KILLED THE KING AND NOW THE SERVANTS ARE RUNNING THE CASTLE!!!!!!!!

The gnutella client needs a place to start - somebody to connect to. The hosts that it connects to when first started are simply helpful sites that have made a list of recently active gnutella servents for your servent to try. Once the sites have given your servent a list of other servents, and hopefully added yours to their list, your servent disconnects from the host and is off and running on it's own.

Obviously, these "kick start" sites are potential targets for the RIAA. If that were to happen, other strategies for getting a startup servent list would have to be investigated. My guess is that the RIAA will come gunning for these sites as soon as Napster is killed.

Of course, starting a lawsuit, and winning one are two different things and it appears that the legal standing against these hosts is pretty slim.

>>Obviously, these "kick start" sites are potential targets for the RIAA. If that were to happen, other
>>strategies for getting a startup servent list would have to be investigated. My guess is that the RIAA
>>will come gunning for these sites as soon as Napster is killed.

Seems to me that the best strategy for this is simply to cache every connection to/from every host, and possibly rank them on how long they've been alive, or on the number of connections. Then when your servant starts, have it run through the cached list to make connections ....

Also seems to me that I'm not the first person to think of this. Is there a servant out there that already does this? I'm using Gnotella atm, and as far as I can tell, it does not do this.