P2P internet TV
P2P is the abbreviation for peer-to-peer. Traditional, P2P was defined as “A type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the others." A pure peer-to-peer network does not have the notion of clients or servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both "clients" and "servers" to the other nodes on the network. This model of network arrangement differs from the client-server model where communication is usually to and from a central server. Most home computer networks today are peer to peer networks. Computers in peer networks can be used to share files, printers and other resources equally among all of the devices. Today it is popular for people to use P2P file sharing over the Internet.
An important goal in peer-to-peer networks is that all clients provide resources, including bandwidth, storage space, and computing power. Thus, as nodes arrive and demand on the system increases, the total capacity of the system also increases. This is not true of client-server architecture with a fixed set of servers, in which adding more clients could mean slower data transfer for all users.
The distributed nature of peer-to-peer networks also increases robustness in case of failures by replicating data over multiple peers, and -- in pure P2P systems -- by enabling peers to find the data without relying on a centralized index server. In the latter case, there is no single point of failure in the system. These advantages made it to be widely used in internet television. It turns a PC into an instant on-demand TV without any need for additional set top box, and is expected to deliver (relaying) near-TV resolution images.
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/p2ppeertopeer/a/p2pintroduction_2.htm;