Once connected to a Web site, a user could monitor the dispatched service. P2P is also getting attention in health care. With such information as patient records, work schedules and product inventories on different devices, P2P offers access to files, as well as messaging, sharing and updating information. Excess inventory at one hospital could be sold to another. Yet challenges remain.
New protocols are necessary, and there are significant concerns about reliability and security.
In addition, management software is needed to distribute requests for resources in the network while preventing bottlenecks. Also required is a billing mechanism so users can be paid for offering their PCs. A free mouse pad won't do. But with start-ups and notable figures such as Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie working on P2P technology, its future looks very promising. Pimm Fox is Computerworld's West Coast bureau chief.