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Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

Direct Communication Without a Central Server

In a P2P network, all participants (peers) communicate directly on equal footing. There is no central server or it plays only a minimal role, with each peer directly exchanging data.

Architecture Diagram

💻
Peer A
💻
Peer B
💻
Peer C
↔ ↔ ↔
All peers connect directly as equals — no central server
Flow Description
  1. Each peer joins the network (discovery)
  2. Peers establish direct connections (NAT traversal)
  3. Exchange data directly without a central server
  4. Network is distributed with no single point of failure

How It Works

1

Peer A joins the network (registers itself with discovery server)

2

Peer B discovers Peer A and attempts direct connection

3

Direct connection established via NAT traversal

4

Direct data exchange between peers (no server relay)

Pros

  • ✓ No single point of failure
  • ✓ Reduced server costs
  • ✓ Excellent scalability
  • ✓ Censorship resistance

Cons

  • ✗ Complex NAT traversal
  • ✗ Difficult security management
  • ✗ Difficult to guarantee data consistency
  • ✗ Discovery mechanism required

Use Cases

BitTorrent file sharing WebRTC video calls Blockchain networks IPFS distributed storage
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