CLIENT/SERVER AND PEER TO PEERNational 4/5 Computing Science

LESSON AIMS By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Describe what a peer to peer network is

Describe what a client server network is

Discuss the differences between them

CLIENT AND SERVER NETWORKS

You are working on a client and server network Your machine is a CLIENT Your documents are stored and internet access is

managed through the schools SERVER

You connect to a server to use its resources This can vary depending on the server Might just be to store files…

A SAMPLE CLIENT SERVER NETWORK

Client Client

E-mail Server

File Server

Web Server

WHAT CAN A SERVER DO?

Servers can perform multiple roles – some are They can run email servers They can store files Control Internet Access Host Web Sites Control printing for multiple computers

PEER TO PEER NETWORKS

You can run a peer to peer network A peer to peer network is where each computer

shares the functions/files of a network.

Peer to peer networks have advantages: Each computer has its own backing storage so

does not rely on an expensive server. No expensive server hardware or software to

purchase No complex server software to setup

USES OF PEER TO PEER NETWORKS

Distributed downloading Where instead of downloading from one central

location you download pieces of a file from multiple machines

Can be used for legal AND illegal purposes The technology is legal! The files being shared may not be!