Friend to Friend Filesharing Setup -Slyck Post

Thought I'd post this as it's interesting.

Friend to Friend Filesharing Setup

by big_papa_bear02 on Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:00 am

Anyone here have a good idea for a Friend to Friend filesharing setup? Some friends and I would like to share some files with each other and would like to have a system with easy setup and encrypted transfers without having a centralized server. Any help would be great

by FrankTalk on Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:09 am

Try Dargens (http://www.dargens.com/) it is a easy to use friend to friend p2p file sharing website.

It works but is still in development.

To share between a group of friends you:

1. Make a swarm by clicking on the "Make a swarm" link, choose private option.

2. The swarm page will have a web address (url) in the form of a hash code. Send this address to all those you want to share with and tell them to keep it secret.

3. To share files you launch the p2p application by going to your swarm page web address (url) and CLICKING on "start". You will then connect to anyone who does the same. You will only connect to others who have launched the application from that specific page hence friend to friend.

Site still in development. To add directiories to share click "Add shared directory".

All connections are encryted. Also files are refenced via psuedo-anonymous references NOT IP address. So no one can tell what you are sharing. Not your friends or anyone else.

As it is still in development it is not recommended for newbies.

I like it.

Thanks

Frank Talk

by enigmax on Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:22 am

FrankTalk wrote:I like it.

As the dev, you probably would

Secure solution

by anothernametaken on Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:43 am

Well, I installed your app, Frank Talk, and it did add ANts to my tray icons, but half an hour later, I'm still waiting for ANts to connect. I was given the impression from the main page that this p2p app is mainly for sharing indy mp3s. Is there any size limit to files that can be distributed this way? Can the listening port be changed? Does it have any advantages over a service like yousendit? I'll give it a shot, if it does anything I'd like to do that other file sharing apps do not, but if it's just for distributing indy music, you should have mentioned that with your reply. There also seems to be an unusually high amount of memory used, even though I wasn't downloading or sharing anything. It was about 36 MB, according to my Task Manager. What's that about?

by FrankTalk on Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:58 pm

Thanks for your feedback, the following repy was written on train on way home to London from Petersfield.

Well, I installed your app, Frank Talk, and it did add ANts to my tray icons,

Dargens is ANts p2p modified to make it only connect to friends (trusted peers). These can be either public friends or private friends.

If a swarm is public anyone can search for it and join it by clicking on the SEARCH/START link to launch the p2p application.

If the swarm is private then you can't search for it and the url/web address is only know by the person who set it up or those he has told about it.

If you register you can join two swarms otherwise it is one.

but half an hour later, I'm still waiting for ANts to connect.

As this is a friend to friend service connection should only take a minute maximum as you are connecting to either you private friends or to other members of the public that share an interest.

If you don't connect then something has gone wrong. The best course of action is to right click on the ANts icon in the systems tray to close it and then launch the p2p application again.

However this time either make sure you pick a swarm with users (look at top 10 or pick first tv image) or invite friends to join the private swarm that you have set-up. When they join you can connect to them.

One further issue, Dargens uses both STUNT (NAT hole punching) and Upnp to allow users to connect without port forwarding. However there is currently a bug so port forwarding is recommended. The team will be working for the next two to three weeks to get both STUNT and Upnp working correctly. Hopefully we will be succesful.

I was given the impression from the main page that this p2p app is mainly for sharing indy mp3s.

I love music so does the rest of the team. So that is the type of file we have decided to concentrate on. But file sharing is about sharing files so you can share any type of file without restriction.

Is there any size limit to files that can be distributed this way?

There is no size limit to the size of file other than that imposed by hashing and I think that is two Gigabytes.

Can the listening port be changed?

Yes, double click on the ANts p2p icon in the systems tray, go to the connection tab select stop, change the port then restart.

Does it have any advantages over a service like yousendit?

Probably not. This is old school file sharing like NApster or Audio Galaxy where you share a hard disc full of you favourite files. In my case, unsigned rock music. Then anyoone can browse my collection and sample it and I can do the same to others collection.

The only new part is that it is pseudo-anonymous. So that the only person that know I'm connected is my friends and NO ONE can with certainty say what files I'm sharing.

Not fool proof just different. No one can snoop on you or monitor you. Secure enough to not worry about your ISP but not so secure that it slows down transfers.

I'll give it a shot, if it does anything I'd like to do that other file sharing apps do not, but if it's just for distributing indy music, you should have mentioned that with your reply.

It is an old school file sharing system like Napster or Audio Galaxy only file are NOT linked to users IP address.

As long as you don't break any of your laws you can share what ever you want.

The only missing ingredient is someone to share with.

So either share in private by inviting some friends or share in public by joining a swarm with users.

There also seems to be an unusually high amount of memory used, even though I wasn't downloading or sharing anything. It was about 36 MB, according to my Task Manager. What's that about?

The Ants client is constantly searcing for connections. Also it is written in Java (so easily readable) see source on google code - this mod of ANts is called kerjodando - search for p2p on google code hosting it is the TOP result!


Thanks

by anothernametaken on Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:49 pm

Thanks for clearing all of that up. I didn't look for a swarm, so that's probably why it didn't connect properly. I'm all for old school type p2p. I liked the discretionary upload feature on WinMX a lot. I was a member of a chatroom there where all the other members had huge shared libraries, and were often the first source for new good stuff, (I hadn't used eMule or bit torrents at that point). I'll give your app another shot.

Just a couple of more questions:

Does it turn itself on when I reboot, and how do you turn it back on if it's been closed with the task manager? I couldn't find a shortcut in the programs list of my start menu. It called itself ANts in the program itself, the screen tip on the tray icon called it something else, and it was called javaw.exe in the task manager processes. I've been looking for a way to transfer six 175 MB videos to an old friend from MX who now only uses Newsgroups, after getting a cease and desist from his ISP for sharing tv shows.

by carpefile on Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:22 pm

Certainly not to dis kerjodando (I whole heartedly approve and support Mr. Elliott's development of Ants with tracker), but for the gentleman just trying to share 6 vid files with his friend, I would recommend publicftp.com as a simpler solution in this case.
After registering an ftp account (with username and password only), you can upload files to your account using your favorite ftp client, and then just give an http link to the file to whoever you want to share it with. No one else can access your file, and even the people you give access to can't browse your stuff, they can just download files you link them to directly.
Free, no ads, no file size limits or usage limits.
And no, I'm not connected to them in any way, its just the simplest solution for your particular problem.
cheers

by FrankTalk on Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:16 pm

I agree.

However, I'm just nosey I guess. I like to browse what other people have got. This is the activity that big music has stamped on with their lawsuits.

I am one of the minority who love to share. I like it when someone discovers a new file by browsing through my stuff. And I like to do the same.

If you want to share 6 files and ensure no one browses your precious collection then definitely ftp is the way to go.

The tools should fit the purpose.

Just don't stop sharing cos of the legal climate you don't have to advertise and link your ip address to the files you share or connect to strangers, hence Dargens.

Thanks

And Carp don't call me Mr. - it's Ezzy to my friends.