Question

Describe peer to peer and client server networks.

Answer 1

Peer to Peer network Peer-to-peer (P2P) is an alternative network model to that provided by traditional client -server architecture. P2P networks use a decentralized model in which each machine, referred to as a peer, functions as a client with its own layer of server functionality. A peer plays the role of a client and a server at the same time. That is, the peer can initiate requests to other peers, and at the same time respond to incoming requests from other peers on the network. It differs from the traditional client-server model where a client can only send requests to a server and then wait for the server‟s response. In P2P networks overall network performance actually improves as an increasing number of peers are added to the network. These peers can organize themselves into ad-hoc groups as they communicate, collaborate and share bandwidth with each other to complete the tasks at hand (e.g. file sharing). Each peer can upload and download at the same time, and in a process like this, new peers can join the group while old peers leave at any time. This dynamic re-organization of group peer members is transparent to end-users.

Client Server Network 

There are an almost infinite variety of client/server networks, but all of them have a couple of things in common. All have centralized security databases that control access to shared resources on servers. A client can only send requests to a server and then wait for the server‟s response. The server contains a list of usernames and passwords. Users can‟t log on to the network unless they supply valid usernames and passwords to the server. Once logged on, users may access only those resources that the network administrator allows them to access. Thus, client/server networks possess much more security than do peer-to-peer networks. Client/server networks also tend to be much more stable.