WIKIPeer-to-peer
- Not to be confused with the House of Lords.
Peer-to-peer, or P2P, is a term for technologies that connect individual devices directly to other devices, rather than going through a central server.
P2P technologies can be more efficient, for instance by using the resources of a network efficiently, or by reducing overload on central resources. They can also be more resistant to network censorship, as they may lack centralised services that can be easily targeted or blocked.
Peer-to-peer social practices can also be observed, as people communicate new ideas directly to each other.
BitTorrent is a common P2P technology, but many other technologies work on a similar principle. Tor is a kind of P2P technology, and many of the features of Skype work peer to peer.