SuprNova Moves Towards Decentralization

[SlyckTom]

BitTorrent has quickly become one of the most popular P2P protocols on the Internet. In terms of bandwidth consumption, it is quite easily the most popular network, generating more Internet traffic than FastTrack or eDonkey2000. While BitTorrent is certainly efficient in distributing large files across the Internet, it is plagued by one vulnerability - its reliance on centralization.

The BitTorrent tracker, similar to a central server, has been the great weakness of any P2P network. Although BitTorrent trackers do not operate identically to indexing servers, they still act like traffic cops - directing traffic to their intended destination. SuprNova.org, while not a tracker per se, still operates as a impromptu tracker as it points traffic to the actual tracker. Regardless, the bandwidth consumption remains enormous. This equates to prolonged searches, lengthy load times and other typical slow downs associated with the World Wide Web.

One of the great resolutions to depending on centralized servers has been decentralization. Initiated by NullSoft's Gnutella, decentralized P2P networks have revolutionized file-sharing by making them impervious to "pulling the plug" as was Napster's and Scour's fate. This has long been a fear of many BitTorrent fans - pull the Tracker plug and there goes a portion of the network. However, it appears that SuprNova.org has found a solution to this problem. Meet Exeem.

Exeem is a new file-sharing application being developed by the folks at SuprNova.org. Exeem is a decentralized BitTorrent network that basically makes everyone a Tracker. Individuals will share Torrents, and seed shared files to the network. At this time, details and the full potential of this project are being kept very quiet. However it appears this P2P application will completely replace SuprNova.org; no more web mirrors, no more bottle necks and no more slow downs.

Exeem will marry the best features of a decentralized network, the easy searchability of an indexing server and the swarming powers of the BitTorrent network into one program. Currently, the network is in beta testing and already has 5,000 users (the beta testing is closed.) Once this program goes public, its potential is enormous.

For more information, read Google's search on "Exeem SuprNova" <a href=http://www.google.com/search?q=exeem%20suprnova&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=fw target="_blank">here</a>.

[Bunny101]

Interesting i like to see it in work

[altpdend]

what is stop the riaa mpaa or whoever from flooding the network wth fakes? what good is the network if we can't get what we want.

[Bunny101]

Hmm agree altp

[SlyckTom]

What's to stop them now?

[Skoorb]

I want anonymity

[Bunny101]

Hmm maybe after downloading a torrent 30min later the client would ask if it are a fake or not.
But only if the torrent is download continusly to the end so that riaa can not just make a script that is download it and deleting one part and download it again and so on

[cjules13]

Interesting article - I wonder how the torrents will be shared? In the app itself or dl from a website like suprnova?

[altpdend]

well to answer slycktom ? whats to stop then now most torrent sites you have to be trusted before you are allowed to post on there site.

[WitchHunterRobin]

what is stop the riaa mpaa or whoever from flooding the network wth fakes? what good is the network if we can't get what we want.

It's possible for the network to become flooded with fakes.
But as I see it, it will become more like the eDonkey network is now. Verified sites will coexist with the network search feature. You can use either one. The eDonkey network with its current structure is obviously flourishing, and even BayTSP says that the network is difficult to disrupt.
Correct me if I'm wrong in comparing the two, or misinterpreting the article.

[SlyckTom]

In the app itself or dl from a website like suprnova?

No more website trackers...from what I understand, the clients will act like trackers...

Also, we just dont know enough about the program to really know what type of protection will be built in against false files..

[cjules13]

Right, that's one thing, but like your article mentions, suprnova itself isn't really a tracker. They post stuff from all kinds of other trackers too. So would the torrent files still be posted on websites? Or are they doing away with the whole torrent file completely and make it just an internal search within Exeem itself?

[lordfoul]

Well good for them. It are this types of innovations that will keep p2p flourishing in the face of MPAA and RIAA adversity.

[lion7718]

Well, I hope it works....
but I also hope the Torrents are shared through the whole Network & not made up of Hubs.
It also seems like if the Files are shared, that there would be no more use for a Torrent File to start with...you can just search for the File itself....than it could make a Temp Torrent like other P2P Programs do with there Files.

[carpefile]

Be great if it works.
Now if they could only stealth bit packets to look like normal http traffic.....

[SlyckTom]

So would the torrent files still be posted on websites?

I dont know if suprnova.org will still exist as a torrent lister...probably not since to purpose of this is to alleviate bandwidth. All I know is that people will share torrents within the network and be independent of any central or web server.

[Sarevok]

Yeah, I'm confused on how exactly this is an improvment...it's different for sure, but turning to this degree has strange implications. How could every client possibly act as its own independant tracker? What about firewalled nodes? How is this to scale efficiently? Suddenly you've got all these problems which other decentral networks have tackled long ago and you've lost the whole fundamental bittorrent principals. And finally, what is the goal of this? And what is to happen of the website, will it simply just offer this new torrent p2p client?

I suppose we'll all find out soon enough

[kevogod]

So would the torrent files still be posted on websites?

I dont know if suprnova.org will still exist as a torrent lister...probably not since to purpose of this is to alleviate bandwidth. All I know is that people will share torrents within the network and be independent of any central or web server.

Oh wow! That is like the newest thing on the block. Decentralized? I just shit my pants. Too bad it will become JAP2P network.

[neofire]

If eXeem relies on each user's PC who logon to the network as a tracker, and does not have a main server for directing traffic, the possible problem would be:

-overloading your PC if an item does not have many seeders. As your PC might be the only one with the completed file, and everyone is requesting it.
Plus your isp would not be happy.

-possible problem with having no main tracker to hash check the file, someone could create fake or spoof it to let you download some malicous code.

It sounds to me, as mentioned earlier by another poster, it would have same or similar fearures like the other decentralised networks...and probably same kind of problem.

A better solution to BT may be to have backup trackers that mirror each others, and situated in different locations, just like big corporation, having their database stored in different countries, and if one failed, the backup will automatically kick in...but this would required people who has the resources to coordinate such implimentation.
More work, but have redundancy, plus kept the current BT system working, which IMO, works pretty well.

[TDO]

Aaah, how interesting, waiting eagerly for more info .

[LANjackal]

This story sounds interesting, but it sure leaves a whole lot more questions and concerns than it answers. I think these have all been raised in previous posts to this discussion, so I won't go over them. First of all, I must admit that I am not a heavy BitTorrent user, primarily because all my large downloads were previously via ED2K, I have a vast array of offline content sources and my current budget doesn't allow for a new 250+GB hard drive every 90 days or so (the rate at which I was adding content earlier this year).

I'm only wondering exactly how this "decentralization" process works. In the current technological framework, fakes are difficult to propogate because of the open manner in which the torrents are posted. Any fake file on a torrent website is rapidly weeded out by users, and because the source and the fake itself are easily identified, the offending poster is punished by being banned, blacklisted, etc. In this way, BitTorrent networks are almost naturally self-correcting/repairing - essentially the filesharing analog of Wikis. Will Exeem allow this to continue?

The way I see it, the decentralization will only pay off if it allows the same openness and ease of access across the new framework. Unfortunately, I don't think this decentralization will lead to anonimity or immunity - the BitTorrent protocol wasn't developed with either of those in mind. The new framework will merely do two things:

1 - make it basically impossible to shut down Suprnova.org by distributing the site's function across a network
2 - alleviate Suprnova.org's current bandwidth crunch

I suspect this may be rather difficult to implement without resulting in Suprnova becoming just another P2P network with the problems of persistence of search results. I'll explain what I mean by that. On most P2P networks, if the user sharing the file you're seeking is not connected to the network, you get no search result and hence you never know that the file actually exists. An exception to this is when the supernode you've connected to loses a subnode and doesn't update the list of files available from the remaining subnodes in a timely manner. The difference is that while such a possibility is viewed as a disadvantage in conventional P2P networks, BitTorrent takes it a level higher and turns it into an advantage: you have knowledge of the file's existence - and can request the download - even if you can't connect to a possible source at the moment (this is especially a problem for NAT-firewalled users). All you have to do is wait for the person with the file - or portion thereof - to connect to the network. Thanks to the fact that BitTorrent effectively creates a self-contained P2P network for each shared file, the arrival of an available source and notification thereof (usually) happens very quickly. If Suprnova can pull off the same functionality in a decentralized framework, props to them and hurray for us.

There is yet another possibility: Suprnova might just be spawning a new P2P protocol that spans the sandboxes of both BitTorrent and conventional P2P. If they do and it works, I'll dump my questions. Until then, they stand.

[notbob]

you can move the tracker off the web and still have the torrents available from another protocol

take some open-source ftp or emule type server and frankenstein it with BT

they could still have all the links, just now they'd be only available from a specific client, not every web browser on earth

this really doesn't add much security, since anyone with a client can hook up to a torrent and netstat, but it could help against ddos attacks a little bit

and it also gives a great vector to install a ton of spyware and make some fat cash

[serrebi101]

Looks like a bit torrent client,
Isn't it ironic that the suprnova search is up but nothing else?

I've seen exeem, nice bit torrent client, seems to inpliment submiting torrents,
I don't have a serial, so I can't try it out, anyone wanna share one? After all, this is p2p after all!

[ashton]

All I have to say is... this will be fscking nice...

take some open-source ftp or emule type server and frankenstein it with BT

and it also gives a great vector to install a ton of spyware and make some fat cash

You mean like TrustyFiles?

[deadhippo]

uberche

exeem, atleast that’s it’s name now. It’s from http://www.suprnova.org and it will kick ass once it’s finished. It takes the great speeds of Bit Torrent and combines it into a searchable database like Kazaa but than it adds so much more that stops things like corrupted files and viruses being transfered by everyone continually.


Right now it is in Beta form and closed to the public but it is advancing fast and even now kicks ass (apart for some annoying bugs being taken care of in Beta).



remarcus
11/29/04 08:16:55
remarcus

awesome! bump

if you dont mind, keep us posted



Madam_Mira
11/29/04 09:29:43
Madam_Mira

better than limewire?



uberche
11/30/04 16:19:57
uberche

I think much better. If you’re not familiar with Bit Torrent basically it takes the general idea of kazaa and Limewire and builds on it. they download faster as everyone is downloading small parts of the same file but not nessacarily the same part so maybe one person is downloading hte end while another hte begining than they all share those parts with everyone else for faster speeds. also many other programs have become blocked up with fake files due to RIAA as well with viruses and shitty quality, eXeem will have a voting function so you knwo if people actually liked the file they just downloaded or if it was crap as well it will include functions that make fake files screwing with your existing partial real files impossible.


Plus I’m serving Invader Zim on it and will continue to when it’s released so that alone is worth downloading it. Anyone watch Invader Zim?! God damn taht was a good show.