I have some questions related to the Gnutella design...

1) Does it depend on any central server (as Napster do or even as kazaa does for the users registration) ?

2) I read the Gnutella protocol but i found this:

"A Gnutella servent connects itself to the network by establishing a connection with another servent currently on the network. The acquisition of another servent’s address is not part of the
protocol definition and will not be described here (Host cache services are currently the predominant way of automating the acquisition of Gnutella servent addresses)."

does anybody know how the first host is found? what technique is used? what is the host caching service?

Thanx in advance

well i hope you have the answer by now... but if not here it comes
firstly i must say i am not a gnutella developer, but i read most of it's specification and protocols.
1)no, gnutella doesn't have a central server like napster , that's the nice thing about it, it works in a totaly distributed env.
2)well, basically you are supposed to find a host cachea friend, some IP address someone gave you on a chat etc.
the trick is to find the first IP address after that your in, and you can find your own connections.


hope this helps,

A so called 'Host cache' will provide you with a fresh list of IPs/port of other gnutella clients, every time queried. Does this answer your question, do you need technical details? Here is a list of hostcaches I have knowledge of:

"Gnutella Host Caches"
http://www.gnutella.co.uk/servers/

connect1.gnutellanet.com:6346
connect2.gnutellanet.com:6346
connect3.gnutellanet.com:6346
connect4.gnutellanet.com:6346
gnutella.hostscache.com:6346
gnotella.fileflash.com:6346
router.limewire.com:6346
gnutella.hostscache.com:6346
gnet2.ath.cx:6346

Greets, Moak

Hi Moak!

Its long ago you used bearshare?

public.bearshare.net
connect1.bearshare.net
connect2.bearshare.net
connect3.bearshare.net

Morgwen