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By Nelson Minar, Marc Hedlund, Clay Shirky, Tim O'Reilly, Dan Bricklin, David Anderson, Jeremie Miller, Adam Langley, Gene Kan, Alan Brown, Marc Waldman, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Aviel Rubin, Roger Dingledine, Michael Freedman, David Molnar, Rael Dornfest, Dan Brickley, Theodore Hong, Richard Lethin, Jon Udell, Nimisha Asthagiri, Walter Tuvell, Brandon Wiley
Edited by
Andy Oram
February 2001
Pages: 448
ISBN 10: 0-596-00110-X |
ISBN 13: 9780596001100
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
This book presents the goals that drive the developers of the best-known peer-to-peer systems, the problems they've faced, and the technical solutions they've found. The contributors are leading developers of well-known peer-to-peer systems, such as Gnutella, Freenet, Jabber, Popular Power, SETI@Home, Red Rover, Publius, Free Haven, Groove Networks, and Reputation Technologies. Topics include metadata, performance, trust, resource allocation, reputation, security, and gateways between systems.
Full Description
- Nelson Minar and Marc Hedlund of target="new">Popular Power, on a history of peer-to-peer
- Clay Shirky of acceleratorgroup, on where peer-to-peer is likely to be headed
- Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly & Associates, on redefining the public's perceptions
- Dan Bricklin, cocreator of Visicalc, on harvesting information from end-users
- David Anderson of SETI@home, on how SETI@Home created the world's largest computer
- Jeremie Miller of Jabber, on the Internet as a collection of conversations
- Gene Kan of Gnutella and GoneSilent.com, on lessons from Gnutella for peer-to-peer technologies
- Adam Langley of Freenet, on Freenet's present and upcoming architecture
- Alan Brown of Red Rover, on a deliberately low-tech content distribution system
- Marc Waldman, Lorrie Cranor, and Avi Rubin of AT&T Labs, on the Publius project and trust in distributed systems
- Roger Dingledine, Michael J. Freedman, and David Molnar of Free Haven, on resource allocation and accountability in distributed systems
- Rael Dornfest of O'Reilly Network and Dan Brickley of ILRT/RDF Web, on metadata
- Theodore Hong of Freenet, on performance
- Richard Lethin of Reputation Technologies, on how reputation can be built online
- Jon Udell of BYTE and Nimisha Asthagiri and Walter Tuvell of Groove Networks, on security
- Brandon Wiley of Freenet, on gateways between peer-to-peer systems
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Book details
First Edition: February 2001
ISBN: 0-596-00110-X
Pages: 448
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Peer-to-Peer Review, April 20 2001
I really enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure that "peer-to-peer" necessarily focuses on the issues of security and authenticity upon which most of the book seemed concentrated. Indeed, an early contributor noted that what made Napster so nifty wasn't the peer-to-peer aspect, as the hybrid centralized list of peers and what they had available.
I would suspect that issues of self-publishing and collaboration go beyond the extremes of anonymity and methods of publishing despite potential government (or corporate) oppression that came to color the writings, at least as I read through them. Those things =are= important, but in focusing on those particular edges, we lose sight of the fact that current tools do not provide comfortable affordances to self-publishing, nor do current typical ISP relationships (no fixed IP for putting the home computer online).
Having said all of that, I also begin to wonder at the historical review. It was with a great start that I read Andy Orum's comments at the end where he writes: "When a revenue stream that information providers have counted on for over 2000 years threatens to dry up...." If, as I believe, Mr. Orum is referring to the concept of authorship, or modern concepts of intellectual property, he needs to drop an order of magnitude. Indeed, as Elizabeth Eisenstadt pointed out in her monumental "The Printing Press as an Agent of Change," the concept of authorship as we know it today is one innovation that appeared with "mass" printing.
On the other hand, the idea of control over ideas goes back as far back in human history as there are recorded ideas, such that it is neither notable that some people like to control access to information and others (Prometheus, to cite one early legendary example) work to change that. In that context, peer-to-peer, as it applies to intellectual freedom, is only the latest phase of an ongoing tao-ish part of human social behavior! That doesn't lessen it's importance, but perhaps might be useful in lessening the self-importance of some practitioners :-).
Still, a lovely book and an excellent introduction. It will take me months to think things out and explore the new software that the book introduces.
Peer-to-Peer Review, April 12 2001
Great Essays on An "Up and Coming" Technology
Of course, saying that Peer to Peer is an "up and coming" technology is
most likely misleading, given that some form of peer to peer has been
around since the early days of the Internet. However, the series of essays
in this book explain various parts of peer to peer, its past, present &
future, and its benefits to anyone who uses the Internet.
Whether it's people looking to download MP3's off Napster, to get documents
off Publius, or to download files off Gnutella, peer to peer is changing
the way users think of the 'Net. Among the numerous issues discussed in
these essays are the handling of metadata, perfomance and security issues
(ie how to deal with slower servers or DoS attacks), and the repuation or
"credibility" of a service using peer to peer technology.
It's also interesting to trace the history of peer to peer, which is done
in the book's first chapter. There are also looks at the more famous
examples of peer to peer, such as the afore mentioned Napster, Gnutella,
Publius, and also Jabber and FreeNet.
I like to think of peer to peer as a "past and future" Internet technology,
and one that cold still revolutionize the way people interact over the
'net. This book gives an excellent "glimpse" into that world.
Media reviews
"What's this Brave New World of Web Services, .NET, P2P? Is Peer-to-Peer a new sacred cow, the justification for more expensive upgrades, or a new vision of Internet-enabled community? Nineteen essays explain what Lawrence Lessig calls "the next great thing for the Internet."
--Malcolm Dean, desktoplinux.com, Dec 2001
"...a thought provoking volume. Each of the chapter authors, technological leaders currently involved in peer-to-peer projects, are clearly genuinely excited about their topics and the future of peer-to-peer...Overall, this book is an important collection of essays on an emerging technology. Oram has taken the bull by the horns and compiled a good introduction to a topic that is not fully defined."
--Lisa A. Ennis, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Nov 2001
"It's worth reading (and thinking about)."
--Peter H. Salus, ;login: Oct 2001
2001 Cyberculture Editors' Picks, amazon.com
"In this book, key peer-to-peer pioneers offer insight into how the technology has evolved and where it?s
going."
--SciTech Book News, Sept 2001
"a well thought out and useful book which is definitely worth reading"
--Linux Format, Oct 2001
"Overall, well worth buying."
--Andrew Roberts, Northants Linux Users Group, 27th July 2001
"an excellent introduction to these networks can be found in 'Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies'"
--John Joyce, Scientific Computing, July 2001
"Peer-To-Peer" offers an excellent look at an important and potentially disruptive technology that may significantly change the way we search for information. Though it's a bit technical, it's well worth the time spent slogging through the heavy details for anyone seriously interested in learning about a major future trend in the world of search."
--Chris Sherman, Search Engine Watch, August 9, 2001
"An informative and thought-provoking read truly interesting insight into how the technology has evolved, the problems faced so far and the hurdles to overcome in the future."
--Davey Winder, PC Pro, Aug 2001
"All in all a typical well-presented O'Reilly package - nice paper, good hardback binding and excellent content."
--Lindsay Marshall, news@UK, June 2001
"Peer to Peer is a wide-ranging introduction to a revolutionary technology and no doubt such an excellent collection of essays from so many key thinkers and developers will have far reaching effects of its own."
--Linux User, June 2001
"Peer-to-Peer doesn't shrink from technical detail, nor should it, but ample and thought-provoking coverage is also given to the social effects P2P could bring about...with 30% of businesses expecting to deploy P2P applications by 2003 (Gartner) and with so many of the long-standing conventions of computer science so roundly pooh-poohed by this book, who can afford not to read it?"
--Computer Shopper, Jun 2001
"Peer-to-Peer is a thought-provoking book that will help its readers understand an exciting, still-emerging application architecture for the Internet.
--David Wall, amazon.com
"We've mentioned a few books in the magazine that I think are of particular importance. Patricia Seybold's book on the customer revolution, Don Tapscott's book on business webs,and Andy Oram's book on peer-to-peer are all must-reads for anyone driving corporate Internet initiatives."
--Tony Rzzo, Internet World, June 1, 2001
"If you have any interest in the Internet and its effect of society, this book will fascinate you. If you care about what's possible and what's likely in the near future, this book will enlighten you. If you care about intellectual freedom, escaping the tyranny of censorship and central control of information, this book will encourage you. If you care about where the Internet is going, this book will inform you. If you just use the Internet to meet your immediate needs without giving thought to what's really happening and what's likely to happen soon, maybe it's time you gave some thought to these things. Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies will open your eyes and engage your mind in these matters."
--Richard Mann, PC Reviews, May 2001
"O'Reilly Publishing released a book called "Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies," a collection of chapters written by the people who are driving the state of the art in the P2P space. The book is masterfully edited by Andy Oram, an observer who been has covering the P2P scene for a while now. I highly recommend this book. I've been building a collection of O'Reilly books for a long time. Years ago I learned HTML, DHTML, and Javascript, as well as what I know of ASP programming, through O'Reilly. They were the books that counted the most. Even today, my collection continues to grow with the company's books on XML. My two cents is that O'Reilly publishes the books I turn to the most often."
--Tony Rizzo, Internet World, May 2001
"excellent"
--Andrew Orlowski , The Register, April 26, 2001
"an essential read."
--Mark Thwaite, amazon.uk, April 2001
"A facinating book that is part primer, part road map and part exhortation for anew era of computing."
--George Anders, Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2001
"Editor Andy Oram's achievement in the new book, "Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies," is a collection of sociological and technical writing that addresses the potential of peer-to-peer without becoming trapped in intellectual property law. The book is important not because it is well-written, or because it is completely up-to-date (impossible for any book about the Internet that also involves ongoing policy shifts), but because it provides technologists with an intelligent discussion about an emerging social phenomenon. On the other hand, its audience extends beyond designers. In fact, technically literate policy-makers might learn more from the details than those already steeped in system design jargon."
--Ari Schwartz, Federal Computer Week, 4/16/2001
"a collaborative work with insightful essays from the people behind the peer-to-peer revolution, "Peer-to-Peer" is a fascinating account of both its technical and social promise."
--Anna Freeman, Amazon.co.uk Delivers Computers & Internet, April 9, 2001
"one of the first books to delve deeply into the subject...the book doubles as agood historical document and a fine backgrounder for the technically inclined layman." --Netsurfer Digest April 1, 2001 "Peer to Peer is a whole new Internet paradigm, with revolutionary new web services, new ways to link, and millions of people who aren't just passively consuming content and services, but are providing them, too. In this book, P2P's leading practitioners offer in-depth, technically significant discussions of nearly all the key issues they face in making P2P real. From SETI@home to Jabber open-source instant messaging, to privacy tools like Mixmaster and Publius, this is a first sketch of the next Internet revolution."
--barnesandnoble.com, Feb 2001
"Do I recommend this book? YES--great reading, sure to ruffle your feathers and turn you into a raving fanatic or reactionary counter-revolutionary. One way or another, P2P has arrived--but what will it look like 5 years from now? And what effect will it have? I give this book five stars out of five."
--Mitch Tulloch, www.swynk.com, March 16, 2001
"I found the book to be both comprehensive and thorough. If you have an interest in the Internet and who doesn't then this is a must read. Each chapter is authored by experts working with peer-to-peer. The contributors are all leading experts on peer-to-peer and developers of well-known peer-to-peer systems."
--Ralph Ackerman, Release Print, February 2001
"One of the more exciting recent developments in system engineering has been the confluence of ideas from censorship-resistant systems such as the Eternity Service, file-sharing systems such as Napster, and ad-hoc networking technologies such as Bluetooth. These ideas will enable us to overcome the limitations of DNS; in future, we will be able to tailor our network infrastructure to our application, rather than the other way around. This book is an important survey of early work and current ideas in the field. It should be read by everyone involved in designing the next generation of networked systems.
--Ross Anderson
