A peer-to-peer (P2P) network is a group of computers that act as a node to share files between each group. Instead of a central server acting as a shared drive , each computer acts as a server for the files stored on it. When a P2P network is established on the Internet , a central server can be used to index files , or a distributed network can be set up where files are shared and files are stored on the network. In the most basic sense , a peer-to-peer network is a simple network where each computer only doubles as a node and server for the file it contains. This is the same as a home network or office network. However , when a P2P network is set up on the Internet , the size of the network and the available files allow the sharing of large amounts of data. Napster's first early P2P network used client software and a central server , while later networks such as Kaza and BitTorrent moved to a central server and shared the responsibility of sharing between multiple nodes to free up bandwidth.