Has anyone an idea how pipebytes.com works ? I need to implement similar system in PHP and I do not know how to start. The only thing I know is that it is possible to implement it :). Please help!
+1
A:
Update: Pipebytes are indeed not an ordinary filesharing service because they start serving the file before it is completely uploaded. Still, the principle is the same. Their server receives the file, and serves it to the recipient. It is not p2p.
Looks pretty straightforward to me. The "file is sent to the recipient" is slightly misleading, as far as I can see there is no real peer-to-peer process involved here. The file is stored on their server, and delivered to the recipient if they manage to enter the correct code.
Steps:
Pekka
2010-04-22 09:27:54
I don't think it is a proper solution. If there is f.e. more than 10 000 users of the system the server can be easily overloaded.
Kamil Mroczek
2010-04-22 09:31:30
@Kamil then you buy more servers.
zaf
2010-04-22 09:34:02
@Kamil this is the way pipebytes.com works, there is no p2p involved. Plus, thousands of sites serve files this way, with far more than 10.000 users. They just buy, as @zaf says, more powerful hardware with the growing demand.
Pekka
2010-04-22 09:35:59
quotation from pipebytes.com: "Unique P2P file exchange service."
Kamil Mroczek
2010-04-22 09:41:26
@Kamil it's not really true. I just tried it out. The data stream goes to their server and back. Even if the upload takes place in "real time" it's still a program *on the server* that handles the incoming file, and serves it to the recipient as a normal file download from their server. This is *not* real, direct peer-to-peer traffic period.
Pekka
2010-04-22 09:48:07
@Kamil and they are wrong. Read my answer.
zaf
2010-04-22 09:48:31
@Kamil - the site in question is using `peer to peer` inappropriately, as marketing jargon and not a factual statement of how the site works.
Tim Post
2010-04-22 09:51:20
A:
OK. Pipebytes is not your normal file sharing service like Pekka describes.
What happens is that the client uploads to the server and at the same time the receiver downloads the file byte by byte.
The server is basically transmitting the uploaded file back to another user.
This is not a P2P. The server is required. You can read what the definition for P2P here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer
zaf
2010-04-22 09:47:57