Startups vie for P2P application niches

摘要

The initial success of the Napster music-sharing website forcefully demonstrated that the peer-to peer (P2P) computing model can readily accommodate explosive growth and support millions of client computers. At the same time, though, the Napster phenomenon exposed one of P2P's management vulnerabilities when university computer centers had to shut down because of overloaded networks. Now, IT managers are beginning to explore ways of leveraging P2P's strengths within their organizations, while avoiding or overcoming its management challenges. In doing so, they are aided by a number of major vendors, including Intel, IBM and Sun Microsystems, who have embraced P2P computing with new products and well-funded initiatives (see "Is peer-to-peer computing ready for business," Communications News, October, 2001, page 76). In addition, a bevy of startups has emerged to capitalize on one or more of the file-, process- and resource-sharing application niches for P2P computing.