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revision 1.110 by benja, Tue Nov 4 00:38:13 2003 UTC revision 1.111 by benja, Tue Nov 4 00:57:30 2003 UTC
# Line 278  application could then serve this inform Line 278  application could then serve this inform
278  searching for versions of this document. It could also use it  searching for versions of this document. It could also use it
279  to notify the user when new versions of the file become available.  to notify the user when new versions of the file become available.
280    
 .. XXX move previous paragraph to Applications? but it'd be nice  
    to show here how this relates to existing systems. HMMM.  
   
281  Because they require no centralized version management,  Because they require no centralized version management,
282  pointer records may be able to unify the namespaces  pointer records may be able to unify the namespaces
283  of different P2P systems in a similar way to hash-based identifiers.  of different P2P systems in a similar way to hash-based identifiers.
# Line 310  the functionality of current P2P filesha Line 307  the functionality of current P2P filesha
307    
308  .. [#] For STORage Module. Storm is the name of our  .. [#] For STORage Module. Storm is the name of our
309     Free Software implementation, discussed in     Free Software implementation, discussed in
310     Section XXX.     Section 5.
311    
312    .. XXX NOTE: if we move any sections around, update
313       the above section number!
314    
315  The Storm model is comprised of the following components:  The Storm model is comprised of the following components:
316    
# Line 357  is simply a special kind of block. A poi Line 357  is simply a special kind of block. A poi
357  is used to publish mappings from pointer ids  is used to publish mappings from pointer ids
358  to the block ids of pointer records.  to the block ids of pointer records.
359    
360  The benefits of starting from this basic model are numerous:  The Storm model is *simple to implement* on top existing
361    P2P overlays. It allows *simple synchronization* e.g.
362  - simple to implement - existing models cover this well  between mirrors, consisting of only copying all blocks
363    available on only one of the hosts to the other host.
364  - can be made to work with peers that join and leave small  It is also *robust*, because all the information is stored
365    ad hoc networks often (and the global "net" less often)  in blocks, which are immutable; no data is ever overwritten,
366    protecting from accidents.
367  - robust - all state of the system is in the blocks  
368    Finally, if desktop machines
369    use the same data model to store local data, the desktop
370    and Web namespaces can be unified; a document can keep
371    its address when published on the network, or when
372    downloaded to the local harddisk (see [fallenstein03storm]_).
373    
374    .. - can be made to work with peers that join and leave small
375         ad hoc networks often (and the global "net" less often)
376       -> XXX what does this mean?
377    
378    
379  Applications  Applications
380  ============  ============
381    
382  In this section, we discuss three possible applications  In this section, we discuss three possible applications
383  of pointer blocks: A P2P Web, a distributed Wayback Machine,  of pointer records: A P2P Web, a distributed Wayback Machine,
384  and software updates akin to Debian ``apt`` and Windows Update.  and software updates akin to Debian ``apt`` and Windows Update.
385    
386  **A File-shared, Decentralized, Heterogeneous Web.**  **A File-shared, Decentralized, Heterogeneous Web.**
# Line 425  the system because it could use the exac Line 434  the system because it could use the exac
434  as the rest of the file-shared web, simply configured slightly  as the rest of the file-shared web, simply configured slightly
435  differently.  differently.
436    
437  **Software / media updates.**  **Software updates.**
438  As an example of a different application,  As an example of a different application,
439  pointer records could be used to implement  pointer records could be used to implement
440  a p2p version of software upgrades  a p2p version of software upgrades
# Line 434  allowing for large bandwidth savings bec Line 443  allowing for large bandwidth savings bec
443  updates could be downloaded from the closest  updates could be downloaded from the closest
444  host that has a copy.  host that has a copy.
445    
446  An important advantage of pointer records, due  An important advantage of pointer records is
 to the simple underlying block abstraction, is  
447  that it is possible to  that it is possible to
448  burn the new versions of packages  burn the new versions of packages
449  (and their pointers records) to a CD  (and their pointers records) to a CD
450  to take to a machine that is not connected  to take to a machine that is not connected
451  to a network. Because the versioning model only  to a network. Because the versioning model
452  uses the pointer blocks as data, the software upgrade  needs only the pointer blocks, not a connection
453  should simply work out in such a case.  to the network, the software update could be
454  This advantage is not shared by for example the  performed exactly the same way as with an Internet connection.
455  onion networks model XXX.  Other P2P versioning schemes, such as the Content-Addressable
456    Network proposal, do not share this advantage.
457    
458    
459  Implementation  Implementation
# Line 530  Acknowledgements Line 539  Acknowledgements
539  ================  ================
540    
541  We would like to thank |Hermanni|  We would like to thank |Hermanni|
542  [XXX who else] for comments and discussions.  for comments and discussions.
543    
544    .. XXX who else
545    
546  .. |Hermanni| raw:: latex  .. |Hermanni| raw:: latex
547    

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