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Changes for page Networks

Last modified by Zenna Elfen on 2026/01/05 21:51
From version 30.1
edited by Zenna Elfen
on 2026/01/05 19:46
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 =
3 +This page contains an overview of all P4P Networks in this wiki and their building blocks.
6 6  
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.
5 +You can also [[add a P4P Network>>doc:Projects.WebHome]] or have a look at the [[P4P Applications>>doc:P4P.Applications.WebHome]].
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20 -{{box title="==== Contents ====
21 21  
22 -====== ======"}}
23 -{{toc depth="5"/}}
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26 26  
27 27  
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30 -This page contains an overview of all P4P Networks in this wiki and their building blocks.
31 31  
32 -You can also [[add a P4P Network>>doc:Projects.WebHome]] or have a look at the [[P4P Applications>>doc:P4P.Applications.WebHome]].
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40 -(((
41 41  == Building Blocks of P4P Networks ==
42 42  
43 43  
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94 94  * Examples: PKI, Distributed Identities (DIDs), Web-of-Trust, TOFU (SSH-style), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), Peer key fingerprints (libp2p PeerIDs), Key transparency logs
95 95  
96 96  
97 -
98 98  ==== **6. Transport Layer** ====
99 99  
100 100  > This layer provides logical connections and flow control. QUIC and WebRTC bring modern congestion control and encryption defaults; Interpeer explores transport beyond IP assumptions.
101 101  
102 -* //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?
103 103  * Examples: TCP, UDP, QUIC, SCTP, WebRTC DataChannels, Interpeer transport stack
104 104  
105 105  
106 -
107 107  ==== **7. Underlying Transport (Physical/Link Layer)** ====
108 108  
109 109  > Highly relevant for **offline-first / edge networks**, device-to-device communication, and mesh networks and relates to the hardware which facilitates connections.
110 110  
111 -* //How does data move across the medium?//
87 +* How does data move across the medium?
112 112  * Examples: Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct / Wi-Fi Aware (post-AWDL), Bluetooth Mesh, LoRa, NFC, Cellular, CSMA/CA, TDMA, FHSS
113 113  
114 -
115 -
116 116  ==== **8. Session & Connection Management** ====
117 117  
118 118  > Manages **connection lifecycle**, including authentication handshakes, reconnection after drops, and session continuation—especially important in lossy or mobile networks.
119 119  
120 -* //How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?//
94 +* How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?
121 121  * Examples: TLS handshake semantics, Noise IK/XX patterns, session tokens, keep-alive heartbeats, reconnection strategies, session resumption tickets
122 122  
123 123  
124 -
125 125  ==== **9. Content Addressing** ====
126 126  
127 127  > Content addressing ensures **immutability, verifiability, and deduplication**. Identity of data = cryptographic hash, enabling offline-first and tamper-evident systems.
128 128  
129 -* //How is data addressed and verified by content, not location?//
102 +* How is data addressed and verified by content, not location?
130 130  * Examples: IPFS CIDs, BitTorrent infohashes, Git hashes, SHA-256 addressing, Named Data Networking (NDN)
131 131  
132 -
133 -
134 134  ==== **10. P2P Connectivity** ====
135 135  
136 -> Connectivity ensures peers bypass NATs/firewalls to reach each other. 
107 +> Connectivity ensures peers bypass NATs/firewalls to reach each other.
137 137  
138 -* //How can two peers connect directly across networks, firewalls, and NATs?//
109 +* How can two peers connect directly across networks, firewalls, and NATs?
139 139  * Examples: IPv6 direct, NAT Traversal, STUN, TURN, ICE (used in WebRTC), UDP hole punching, UPnP
140 140  
141 -
142 -
143 143  ==== **11. Session & Connection Management** ====
144 144  
145 145  > Manages **connection lifecycle**, including authentication handshakes, reconnection after drops, and session continuation.
146 146  
147 -* //How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?//
116 +* How are connections initiated, authenticated, resumed, and kept alive?
148 148  * Examples: TLS handshake semantics, Noise IK/XX patterns, session tokens, keep-alive heartbeats, reconnection strategies, session resumption tickets
149 149  
150 -
151 -
152 152  ==== **12. Message Format & Serialization** ====
153 153  
154 154  > Serialization ensures **portable data representation**, forward-compatible schemas, and efficient messaging. IPLD provides content-addressed structuring for P2P graph data.
155 155  
156 -* //How is data encoded, structured, and made interoperable between peers?//
123 +* How is data encoded, structured, and made interoperable between peers?
157 157  * Examples: CBOR, Protocol Buffers, Cap’n Proto, JSON, ASN.1, IPLD schemas, Flatbuffers
158 158  
159 -
160 -
161 161  ==== **13. File / Blob Synchronization** ====
162 162  
163 163  > 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.
164 164  
165 -//How are large objects transferred and deduplicated efficiently across peers?//
130 +How are large objects transferred and deduplicated efficiently across peers?
166 166  Examples: BitTorrent chunking, IPFS block-store, NDN segments, rsync-style delta sync, ZFS send-receive, streaming blob transfers
167 167  
168 -
169 169  ==== **14. Local Storage & Processing Primitives** ====
170 170  
171 171  > Provides durable on-device state and local computation (event sourcing, materialization, compaction). Enables offline-first writes and deterministic replay.
172 172  
173 -* //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?
174 174  * Examples: RocksDB, LevelDB, SQLite, LMDB, local WALs/append-only logs, embedded stream processors (NATS Core JetStream mode, Actyx-like edge runtimes), Kafka-like libraries
175 175  
176 176  
177 -
178 178  ==== **15. Crash Resilience & Abortability** ====
179 179  
180 180  > 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.
181 181  
182 -* //How do nodes recover and maintain correctness under failure?//
145 +* How do nodes recover and maintain correctness under failure?
183 183  * Examples: WALs, idempotent ops, partial log replay, transactional journaling, write fences
184 184  
185 185  
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191 191  [[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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199 199  == Overview of P4P Networks ==
200 200  
201 201  {{include reference="Projects.WebHome"/}}
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