Salman Abdul Baset wrote: > >> (Plus everyone needs to hit *some* server to find the bootstrap nodes >> anyway... keeping them connected to it and not moving anything but >> keepalive traffic and the occasionally connection setup, as David points >> out, is cheap) > > The problem comes when media must be relayed through a central server. This > happens when nodes are behind restricted NATs.
Bootstrapping, authentication, and rendezvous should be centralized, but I agree other layers -- including relaying -- are best left to peers. The point is those p2p layers are far easier to build atop a solid centralized core than on top of more p2p. > Also, I suspect that the > administrative costs and pains for managing 15-20 servers may overshadow any > per-month bandwidth costs for connectivity. Are you suggesting that it's easier to manage a 10-million node DHT than 15-20 centralized servers? I think not. If you have 15-20 servers, that means you have millions of active users and you are a massive success -- the centralized costs and administration headaches are utterly trivial by comparison. Also, I should clarify -- the 100K users / $100/mo box ratio I tossed out is a rule of thumb because it's easy to remember and easy to achieve. With some work you can find cheaper boxes ($50/mo) and get them to support even more connections 250K seems pretty easy. Even 1M/box seems achievable. Never underestimate the power of appropriate centralization, or your competitors will beat you to the punch years early. > Nodes need to connect to a central server to get their identity signed by a > central server. This must happen to prevent Sybil attacks. A bootstrap server > can be co-located with this authentication server. That's one thing that's bothered me with a lot of discussions of P2P. At the end of the day, real-world p2p systems utterly depend on reliable, realtime access to centralized components. Successful systems recognize and exploit this. Usability, security, decentralization. Pick any two. -david _______________________________________________ p2p-hackers mailing list [email protected] http://lists.zooko.com/mailman/listinfo/p2p-hackers
