Unlike the client-to-server networking system, the P2P network does not rely on a server, which is greatly slower than having multiple sources to download a file from.
Most P2P activity occurs in the internet, where the file sharing community can do much more than a home network. However, the P2P activity that occurs there often time is classified as illegal because users are not restrained to sharing only certain files.
P2P sharing also has one big flaw, in that there may be malicious people sharing files that contain hidden viruses or trojans; security is the one advantage client-to-server sharing has over P2P sharing.
However, there are some ways to protect yourself if you much prefer P2P and that is to read comments and stay away from files that have 0 sharers and 0 downloaders.
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/p2ppeertopeer/a/p2pintroduction.htm
Hey Joshua! You have explained what P2P, also known as peer-to-peer, sharing well. Yes, the more people that share the same file, the faster the download will be. Many different files can be downloaded through file sharing. I agree that there are legal issues when downloading and sharing certain files; I have seen a lot of programs, that aren't usually free, obtained for free. It is also true that there may be viruses hidden in these files. Sometimes, if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true. Good job!
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