On Thursday 26 October 2006 00:05, Stevens wrote:

Is skype truly peer-to-peer, or does it require an intermediate server to handle the communication? I have used speakfreely in the past and it is a true p2p system that handles encryption.

Skype is a hybrid. It uses a concept called "supernodes", which is basically this: it is peer-to-peer when the peers can connect directly (e.g., machines not behind an intermediary firewall). If they cannot directly connect to each other, it seeks a peer who can relay the communication and relays it through them. The skype docs explain that file transfers over skype are automatically throttled to 1k/second if you are running over a relay (supernode). This is to keep people from inadvertently hoarding your network bandwidth by transfering files over your skype which is acting as a supernode. From what i understand, only clients who have a "direct" connection can act as supernodes. AFAIK, the only way to see if you're being relayed or not is to transfer a file to someone over skype and see if you can get more than 1k/second. More info is here: http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=149&nav2=Technical http://support.skype.com/?_a=knowledgebase&_j=subcat&_i=8 -- ----- stephan@s11n.net http://s11n.net "...pleasure is a grace and is not obedient to the commands of the will." -- Alan W. Watts

On Wed, 2006-10-25 at 17:05 -0500, Stevens wrote:

Is skype truly peer-to-peer, or does it require an intermediate server to handle the communication? I have used speakfreely in the past and it is a true p2p system that handles encryption.

Fred

You can read about it here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype#System_and_software -- /Peo -- Registered Linux User #432116, get counted at http://counter.li.org -- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com