[OT] KaZaA Network (Was: Re: [thelist] Advice on being Hammered (Port Scanned))

[Bob Fowler]

Good question, here's some information I dug up a while back (Note that
KaZaA and Morpheus both use the P2P stack developed by FastTrack):

The FastTrack network designates (perhaps automatically) certain peers -
more powerful computers with high-band-width connections - as "supernodes.".
Several hundred "ordinary" peers connect to any one supernode. A supernode
also connects to other supernodes (approx 25). The supernode functions in
Napster-like fashion as a local search hub, building an index of the files
being shared by each peer connected to it, and processing search requests on
behalf of those peers. Supernodes query other supernodes to fulfill a search
request, but does not query peers serviced by other supernodes (such a step
is unnecessary because the supernodes index all files available among the
peers they service). The effect of this architecture is to create a
relatively small peer-to-peer network of supernodes, each of which in turn
functions as a miniature central server for hundreds of other users. As in
Napster and Gnutella, file transfers in the FastTrack system are purely
peer-to-peer, and involve neither the central server nor any supernode.

Thanks,

Bob.
----- Original Message -----
From: "cdj" <chris at fuzzylizard.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 6:09 PM
Subject: RE: [thelist] Advice on being Hammered (Port Scanned)


> Okay, that would explain this a little. But what exactly is a
> super-node?
>
> Chris
>
> -----Original Message-----
> > It seems to be port 1214 that keeps getting hit. Now I was running
> > Kazaa earlier so this may have something to do with it. The system may
>
> > still think that my computer is hooked up, even though the program has
>
> > been off for several hours now.
>
> Chris,
>
> It's seems very likely that your host was operating as a Kazaa
> super-node. If you want to prevent this from happening in the future,
> there is an option to disable it under Tools --> Options under the
> "Advanced" tab.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob.
>
>
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