What's in a Name?

P2P stands for "peer to peer." Put simply, it's one method of establishing communication between parties. Uploading information to Google Docs to share it with colleagues is not P2P, but sending the same information as an attachment to email is, despite the fact that mail servers are involved. In this context, P2P doesn't mean "serverless communication" so much as "communication that is perceived to be serverless." Like email, instant messaging (IM) is considered P2P technology because even though servers are used quite extensively, there is no explicit act of uploading data to an intermediate location. With both email and IM, servers are used behind the scenes, so to speak.

Thus, "P2P" is as much a social term as a technical one. It connotes a grid or cloud of devices that are more or less equal, rather than a constellation of star-like servers with clusters of clients surrounding them. But from the purely technical point of view, there is a distinct difference between true P2P (in which data is not relayed through a server) and perceived P2P (in which data is relayed through a server, but we don't see it happen).

P2P and the Cloud

As currently implemented, "cloud computing" is really just a new name for old-school client-server computing, except that the servers pretend to be redundant. Clients have little or no actual control over this redundancy and cannot even verify its existence. When a cloud-based service tells you that your data is stored securely, you have no choice but to trust it... or not.

Compare that with a P2P file-sharing network. On a P2P network, every peer can tell who has complete or partial copies of a given file, what percentage of the file is stored locally, as well as many other details. Doesn't that seem like a better example of cloud storage? If not, then what is?

Even better, with this set-up you can easily control the level of redundancy: just add another client instance, have it share the same file, and you've increased your redundancy by one. However, you can't reduce redundancy beyond the peers under your influence. If all peers don't agree to remove a given file, no one can. There have been many ideas about implementing a kind of "delete button" for the web, but the closer we move towards cloud computing, the less likely such a scenario becomes.

Cloud services are chosen for their convenience (being accessible from everywhere with simple tools) and reliability (with redundant storage in stable data centers). P2P technologies increase both factors: they increase convenience because there is no uploading or downloading to and from the cloud, and they provide directly controllable redundancy and, thus, cost control.

In most cases, more reliability means higher prices, and not all data deserves the same level of service. With P2P platforms behind cloud services, developers could implement applications that allow multiple storage and processing schemes without much hassle. This is not always good for service providers, because flexible cost control means that customers can scale up and down freely as business and economic conditions demand. But for the industry as a whole, it is definitely a good thing because it stiffens competition and enables customers to better survive.

What is perhaps more significant about introducing P2P technology into cloud computing is that the P2P cloud would truly be a cloud, not just a 15-year-old client-server technology with a new sticker. If you are inviting us into the cloud, then let us truly be a part of it, instead of remaining a client that we can neither see nor control.

Next page: P2P as a Social Tool