File-sharing program

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File-sharing programs are used to directly or indirectly transfer files from one computer to another over the Internet, over a smaller Intranet, or across simple networks usually following the peer-to-peer (P2P) model. Most of the programs are integrated in filesharing networks and obtain information about each other from central servers.

A few years ago the term file sharing was used for client-server disk sharing (also known as shared file access or disk mounting), but is today often associated with peer-to-peer file sharing.

A variety of peer-to-peer file-sharing programs is available on several different networks. Availability depends partly on operating system, and different networks have different features (for example, multiple-source downloads, different sorts of search limiting, and so on). It is common for commercial file sharing clients to contain abrasive advertising software, or spyware.

1 Categories of clients
2 Applications
3 See also

[edit] Categories of clients

Centralized Clients: OpenNap
- Benefits: Faster searching and downloading
- Negatives: Often more vulnerable to legal and DDOS attacks

Decentralized clients: Gnutella
- Benefits: Usually more reliable and rarely shut down
- Negatives: Generally slower than centralized systems

Decentralized tracker-based clients: Bittorrent
- Benefits: Very fast due to concentration of bittorrent networks on a single file, is principally used to offer new, large files for download, many tracker sites available
- Negatives: Not centrally searchable, tracker sites are often closed down from legal suits or fail, not truly anonymous

Multi-network clients
- Benefits: allows connection to more than one network, almost always on the client side.
- Negatives: often playing catch-up to individual networks' changes and updates.

Anonymous peer-to-peer: Freenet, GNUnet, MUTE, I2P
- Benefits: allows for the uncensored free flow of information and ideas
- Negatives: due to anonymity it allows for questionable or illegal material to be exchanged easier than other networks, often slower than regular p2p because of the overhead

Private file-sharing networks

[edit] Applications

[edit] List of file-sharing programs by network protocol

FastTrack protocol

OpenFT protocol
- giFT
- KCeasy
- Zeus

EDonkey network protocol
- eMule
- MLDonkey
- eDonkey2000
- Overnet
- Hydranode

Freenet protocol
- Freenet
- Entropy, (P2P)

GNUnet protocol
- GNUnet
- Freeway(p2p)

Gnutella protocol
- Ares Galaxy (no spyware/adware)
- BearShare (includes spyware/adware)
- Cabos (no spyware/adware)
- DM2 (no spyware/adware)
- FrostWire (no spyware/adware)
- Gnucleus (unsure)
- Kazaa (includes spyware/adware)
- KCeasy (unsure)
- Kiwi Alpha (includes spyware/adware)
- LimeWire (unsure)
- Morpheus (free version includes spyware/adware)
- Shareaza (no spyware/adware)
- XoloX (unsure)
- Zeus (no spyware/adware)