File-sharing program

This article should be merged with peer-to-peer.

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.

A variety of 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.

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
- Negatives: Not centrally searchable, tracker sites are often closed down 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 then regular p2p because of the overhead

Private file-sharing networks

List of file sharing protocols

HTTP
FTP File Transfer Protocol
Kermit

Operating system protocols

Operating servers

Applications

By network protocol

FastTrack protocol

OpenFT protocol
- giFT
- KCeasy

eDonkey protocol

Freenet protocol
- Freenet
- Entropy, (P2P)

GNUnet protocol
- GNUnet
- Freeway(p2p)

Gnutella protocol

Miscellaneous protocols

Bit Torrent (decentralized dynamic network of users)
MUTE
I2P

User agents

Depot channels

Miscellaneous

- Servers
  - Apache HTTP Server
  - IIS Microsoft Internet Information Services
OpenNap protocol
- Directory servers
  - OpenNap Server
- User agents
  - Napster
  - Gnapster
  - WinMX
- Espra
Audiogalaxy
iMesh
Direct Connect
- Clients (user agents)
  - NeoModus Direct Connect
  - DC++
    - BCDC++
    - CZDC++
    - oDC
- Hubs (servers)
  - Ptokax, YHub, NMDCH, etc..
SoulSeek
Mnet
(open)ssh based systems:
- scp
- sftp
- rsync (now commonly uses ssh as the successor to rsh)
Revision control systems are specialized file sharing systems.
- CVS
- Subversion
General tools:
- Netcat, a networking pocketknife.