Peertopeervõrkudel

Peertopeervõrkudel, often translated as peer-to-peer networks, is a distributed network architecture where individual computers, or "peers," share resources and communicate directly with each other without the need for a central server. In this model, each peer acts as both a client and a server, enabling functions like file sharing, communication, and distributed computing. This decentralized structure offers several advantages, including increased resilience, as the failure of one peer does not necessarily disrupt the entire network. It also allows for scalability, as the network's capacity grows with the addition of more peers.

The concept of peertopeervõrgud has been applied in various contexts. Early examples include file-sharing applications like Napster and Gnutella, which allowed users to exchange music and other digital files directly. More advanced applications include cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which rely on a peer-to-peer network to record and verify transactions, and distributed computing projects like Folding@home, which harness the processing power of many individual computers to solve complex scientific problems. While offering significant benefits, peertopeervõrgud can also present challenges related to security, copyright infringement, and the management of network resources due to the absence of central control.