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Changes for page Networks

Last modified by Zenna Elfen on 2026/01/05 21:51
From version 26.1
edited by Zenna Elfen
on 2026/01/05 19:44
Change comment: There is no comment for this version
To version 15.1
edited by Zenna Elfen
on 2025/11/24 11:56
Change comment: There is no comment for this version

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5 -= Peer-for-Peer Networks =
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7 -P4P, short for Peer-4-Peer (which in turn is short for Peer-for-Peer) are a family of networks which build on principles of local-first, peer-2-peer, open-source, routing agnostic (offline-first) and mutual-aid principles. The above is a lot of terms which in and of themselves carry a lot of meaning, yet when combined they enable censorship-resistant, resilient and adaptive, sustainable and energy-efficient communication infrastructures.
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11 11  (% class="box" %)
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13 13  This page contains an overview of all P4P Networks in this wiki and their building blocks.
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22 -{{box title="==== Contents ====
23 23  
24 -====== ======"}}
25 -{{toc depth="3"/}}
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28 28  
29 29  
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17 +
18 +
31 31  == Building Blocks of P4P Networks ==
32 32  
33 33  
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84 84  * Examples: PKI, Distributed Identities (DIDs), Web-of-Trust, TOFU (SSH-style), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), Peer key fingerprints (libp2p PeerIDs), Key transparency logs
85 85  
86 86  
87 -
88 88  ==== **6. Transport Layer** ====
89 89  
90 90  > This layer provides logical connections and flow control. QUIC and WebRTC bring modern congestion control and encryption defaults; Interpeer explores transport beyond IP assumptions.
91 91  
92 -* //How do peers establish end-to-end byte streams and reliable delivery?//
79 +* How do peers establish end-to-end byte streams and reliable delivery?
93 93  * Examples: TCP, UDP, QUIC, SCTP, WebRTC DataChannels, Interpeer transport stack
94 94  
95 95  
96 -
97 97  ==== **7. Underlying Transport (Physical/Link Layer)** ====
98 98  
99 99  > Highly relevant for **offline-first / edge networks**, device-to-device communication, and mesh networks and relates to the hardware which facilitates connections.
100 100  
101 -* //How does data move across the medium?//
87 +* How does data move across the medium?
102 102  * Examples: Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct / Wi-Fi Aware (post-AWDL), Bluetooth Mesh, LoRa, NFC, Cellular, CSMA/CA, TDMA, FHSS
103 103  
104 -
105 -
106 106  ==== **8. Session & Connection Management** ====
107 107  
108 108  > Manages **connection lifecycle**, including authentication handshakes, reconnection after drops, and session continuation—especially important in lossy or mobile networks.
109 109  
110 -* //How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?//
94 +* How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?
111 111  * Examples: TLS handshake semantics, Noise IK/XX patterns, session tokens, keep-alive heartbeats, reconnection strategies, session resumption tickets
112 112  
113 113  
114 -
115 115  ==== **9. Content Addressing** ====
116 116  
117 117  > Content addressing ensures **immutability, verifiability, and deduplication**. Identity of data = cryptographic hash, enabling offline-first and tamper-evident systems.
118 118  
119 -* //How is data addressed and verified by content, not location?//
102 +* How is data addressed and verified by content, not location?
120 120  * Examples: IPFS CIDs, BitTorrent infohashes, Git hashes, SHA-256 addressing, Named Data Networking (NDN)
121 121  
122 -
123 -
124 124  ==== **10. P2P Connectivity** ====
125 125  
126 -> Connectivity ensures peers bypass NATs/firewalls to reach each other. 
107 +> Connectivity ensures peers bypass NATs/firewalls to reach each other.
127 127  
128 -* //How can two peers connect directly across networks, firewalls, and NATs?//
109 +* How can two peers connect directly across networks, firewalls, and NATs?
129 129  * Examples: IPv6 direct, NAT Traversal, STUN, TURN, ICE (used in WebRTC), UDP hole punching, UPnP
130 130  
131 -
132 -
133 133  ==== **11. Session & Connection Management** ====
134 134  
135 135  > Manages **connection lifecycle**, including authentication handshakes, reconnection after drops, and session continuation.
136 136  
137 -* //How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?//
116 +* How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?
138 138  * Examples: TLS handshake semantics, Noise IK/XX patterns, session tokens, keep-alive heartbeats, reconnection strategies, session resumption tickets
139 139  
140 -
141 -
142 142  ==== **12. Message Format & Serialization** ====
143 143  
144 144  > Serialization ensures **portable data representation**, forward-compatible schemas, and efficient messaging. IPLD provides content-addressed structuring for P2P graph data.
145 145  
146 -* //How is data encoded, structured, and made interoperable between peers?//
123 +* How is data encoded, structured, and made interoperable between peers?
147 147  * Examples: CBOR, Protocol Buffers, Cap’n Proto, JSON, ASN.1, IPLD schemas, Flatbuffers
148 148  
149 -
150 -
151 151  ==== **13. File / Blob Synchronization** ====
152 152  
153 153  > Bulk data syncing has **different trade-offs** than small collaborative state (chunking, deduplication, partial transfer, resume logic). Critical for media and archival P2P use-cases.
154 154  
155 -//How are large objects transferred and deduplicated efficiently across peers?//
130 +How are large objects transferred and deduplicated efficiently across peers?
156 156  Examples: BitTorrent chunking, IPFS block-store, NDN segments, rsync-style delta sync, ZFS send-receive, streaming blob transfers
157 157  
158 -
159 159  ==== **14. Local Storage & Processing Primitives** ====
160 160  
161 161  > Provides durable on-device state and local computation (event sourcing, materialization, compaction). Enables offline-first writes and deterministic replay.
162 162  
163 -* //How do nodes persist, index, and process data locally—without external servers?//
137 +* How do nodes persist, index, and process data locally—without external servers?
164 164  * Examples: RocksDB, LevelDB, SQLite, LMDB, local WALs/append-only logs, embedded stream processors (NATS Core JetStream mode, Actyx-like edge runtimes), Kafka-like libraries
165 165  
166 166  
167 -
168 168  ==== **15. Crash Resilience & Abortability** ====
169 169  
170 170  > Ensures P2P apps don’t corrupt state on crashes. Tied to **local storage & stream-processing**, and critical in offline-first and distributed update pipelines. Abortability is the updated term for Atomicity as part of the ACID abbreviation.
171 171  
172 -* //How do nodes recover and maintain correctness under failure?//
145 +* How do nodes recover and maintain correctness under failure?
173 173  * Examples: WALs, idempotent ops, partial log replay, transactional journaling, write fences
174 174  
175 175  
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181 181  [[Flowchart depicting distributed network variants, under development. Building on work from Z. Elfen, 2024: ~[~[https:~~~~/~~~~/doi.org/10.17613/naj7d-6g984~>~>https://doi.org/10.17613/naj7d-6g984~]~]>>image:P4P_Typology.png||alt="Flowchart depicting typologies of distributed networks, such as Friend-2-Friend, Grassroots Networks, Federated Networks, Local-First, P2P and P4P Networks" data-xwiki-image-style-alignment="center" height="649" width="639"]]
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189 189  == Overview of P4P Networks ==
190 190  
191 191  {{include reference="Projects.WebHome"/}}
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