A peer-to-peer (p2p, peer 2 peer) network is a group of computers that exchange data among themselves.
The opposite of peer-to-peer is the Client-server model; the Internet works this way. A customer then requests information from a central server, for example when making a bank transaction. Watching videos on the internet also works this way. Someone enters a search term and Google's servers respond.
The peers in a peer-to-peer network are computer systems and other devices that are interconnected. Files can be shared directly via the network to which the peers are connected. No central management tool has been incorporated into the network. So each peer is server and client at the same time. A p2p network is decentralized because all peers have the same rights. The blockchain is an example of a peer-to-peer network. In a p2p network, the capabilities of individual computers are merged. This concerns computing power, storage space and bandwidth. In this way, all individual computers together offer competition to the central servers of tech giants.
The purpose of a peer to peer network is to share resources and allow computers to work together to perform a particular task. One of the most common tasks that a p2p network performs is file sharing. Computers can receive and transmit at the same time; when you download a file from a traditional website, the website serves as a server and the person downloading serves as a client.
When you do this via a p2p network, the download comes from multiple computers that already have the file. The network, on the other hand, turns those loose particles into one file. At the same time, the file is also sent from your computer. Programs like BitTorrent and LimeWire also use this technology to share files.
