FastTrack

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Fast Track is a semi-decentralized peer-to-peer - network protocol that from file sharing programs like Kazaa and MLDonkey is used. FastTrack was the most popular file sharing network in early 2003. Mainly specialized in exchanging MP3 files, any other file type, e.g. B. video files, programs and images are offered. FastTrack at times had more file sharing users than Napster reached in its heyday. The protocol has the ability to resume aborted downloads as well as download different parts of a file from multiple sources at the same time.

history

FastTrack is a joint venture between Sharman Networks , AltNet and Joltid.

The FastTrack Protocol and Kazaa are ideas from Niklas Zennström & Janus Friis and were both published in March 2001. Thus the story of FastTrack and Kazaa is very closely linked. The FastTrack community began to grow rapidly from the start. From April 20, 2001 to June 6, 2001, the number of users rose from around 20,000 to over 150,000. The rapid increase is explained by the fact that MusicCity (a former offshoot of the OpenNap network) reorganized itself, acquired a license from Kazaa and now participated in the FastTrack network alongside Kazaa with its own client called Morpheus . In February 2002 Morpheus was locked out of the network due to unpaid bills and FastTrack itself received a version update.

At its peak (April 2003) about 4.4 million users were connected to FastTrack. Presumably as a result of adware , spyware , the ongoing lawsuits by the RIAA against individual file sharing companies and an increasing number of fake files, the number of users fell sharply.

technology

FastTrack is a so-called second generation P2P protocol. It is based on the Gnutella protocol and extends it to include supernodes (computers that serve as nodes in the network). Supernodes act as temporary index servers for other slower clients and thus increase the scalability of the network. The supernode functionality is built into the client software and every user, assuming a certain bandwidth and a powerful PC, can turn his computer into a supernode.

In order to be able to successfully connect to the network at all, a list of IP addresses of some supernodes is permanently programmed into the client. The client first tries to establish a connection to you and, if successful, it calls up a list of currently active supernodes that are also used for future connection attempts. The client selects a supernode, to which it uploads a list of its offered files and via which it now also makes all search queries. The supernode communicates with other supernodes in order to fulfill search requests from clients. If a searched file is found, the client establishes a direct connection to the source and the file is transferred via HTTP .

To enable users to download from multiple sources, FastTrack relies on the UUHash hash function . For very large files, checksums can be created very quickly with UUHash, even on less powerful computers. However, massive falsifications / corruptions of a file go unnoticed. The RIAA in particular exploits this vulnerability to distribute fake or defective files in the network.

Clients

The FastTrack protocol uses encryption that is undocumented by the creators . The source code of the first clients was not published, but the initialization data for the encryption are transmitted in clear text. A public key encryption is not used, which the reverse engineering made comparatively simple. Open source programmers were able to successfully decode the code section for the communication between client and Supernode 2003 through reverse engineering. The communication protocol between supernode and supernode remains unknown.

The following programs are or have been FastTrack clients:

Web links

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