Direct Connect

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Direct Connect (DC) is a peer-to-peer - file sharing - protocol and a computer program that implements this protocol. Likewise, the file sharing network that users build up through their participation is also known as Direct Connect.

It has nothing to do with the similar sounding product Connect Direct (C: D).

history

The Direct Connect Protocol (NMDC) was designed by NeoModus Inc. The company also developed server and client software that use this protocol, but both are used by very few users these days. Based on the NMDC protocol, there is a further development of the adc project, of which the first official version was published in 2007.

Structure and functionality

Direct Connect is based on the client-server model , whereby the server ( called Hub in Direct Connect jargon ) has a purely mediating task and does not provide any data itself (similar to a torrent tracker ). The clients connect to the hub and thus have access to the data offered by other users . There are lists of public hubs on the Internet that anyone can connect to. The minimum requirements for use are also given there. Closed user groups are also possible ( private hubs ). In addition to the general hubs, there are also those whose users are primarily limited to a certain subject area.

Once connected to the hub, the user can a client to one of a IRC -like Chat participate. There is a public channel, which is called main chat, as well as the possibility to talk privately (in so-called private messages). In addition, the user directories can release ( sharing ). The files it contains can then be downloaded by anyone else in the hub. The operators of the hub also have the option of expanding the main chat with scripts, such as enabling the user to call up statistics about the respective hub. However, this is not supported by all client software.

The user has to define how many upload slots he provides. Most public hubs set a minimum limit for upload slots (often a certain hub / slot ratio is set, for example one slot per hub), without which the user is denied access.

The search for files takes place either via a search query by name or by specific Tiger Tree hash . Alternatively, a list of all released files (so-called file list ) of a user can be requested in order to browse through them for interesting information.

In practice, the system does not scale well to very large numbers of users. The largest hubs rarely reach more than 6,000 concurrent users. However, hubs can interconnect. Search queries are then also sent to neighboring hubs to increase the chance of hits. Meanwhile there with verlihub a server software that can manage up to 20,000 users.

With the possibility of assigning a password, closed communities can be created with DC. Alternatively, access is often made more difficult by a required minimum amount of released data ( minimum share ). Another possibility for restriction is to restrict permitted client connections to a specific IP range . For example, only computers from a local network can then access the hub.

By removing the completely free access, some hub operators also hope to avoid legal problems. Copyrighted material is also exchanged in many DC hubs. Investigators paid by the industry as well as the employees of the Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringements (GVU) should be made more difficult by the above-mentioned hurdles.

Popularity and spread

Direct Connect is a very popular system, especially in Scandinavian countries (in Norway, DC ++ was the third most popular search term in the country in 2004 according to Google Zeitgeist). At the beginning of 2005, around 800,000 users were online in around 5,400 hubs in the entire DC network, according to hublist.org , now in October 2007, according to dchublist.com, around 1 million users are distributed across 3,500 hubs (the majority of users are connected to several hubs so that a user number of less than 200,000 is realistic). The range of German-speaking public hubs is very limited, however.

One area of ​​application for which the Direct Connect system is particularly suitable is use within closed, private networks, e.g. B. at LAN parties or in university networks. In such a local area network , the software can achieve very high data transfer rates.

software

Clients

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The ADC Project ( English ) The ADC Project. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  2. ↑ http://www.verlihub-project.org/