Abstract: This paper discusses peer-to-peer file sharing and distributed computing. In the mid-1980s, the term P2P, or peer-to-peer, was used by local area network provider organizations to describe computing nodes on their networks. Previously, the term was used to describe ARPAnet, the military-backed computer network that would become the model for today's Internet[1]. Today, however, the term P2P has a very different meaning: it has come to describe applications specifically designed to exploit peer relationships between computers, using the Internet as an extension of the local area network[2]. Its primary uses include not only sharing huge amounts of information, but also sharing free resources across large numbers of computers [3]. The reasons for its success are numerous and the problems it creates are genuine. Peer-to-peer networking has been around for years. The IP routing structure of the Internet is still peer-to-peer, albeit with different levels of hierarchy, and individual routers act as peers in finding the best route from one point on the network to another[4]. However, it is only recently, with the development of applications that use P2P to create vast archives of media files, that it has become immensely popular. Although these applications represent only a fraction of peer-to-peer networking uses, they have received the majority of attention. PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING These peer-to-peer file sharing systems have changed the way we think about data sharing over the Internet and their success can be attributed to a number of factors. First, these file sharing systems have simple implementations that make them accessible to regular people. Not only is downloading a file using these systems simple, but uploading one is easy too. There is no need to use separate programs and the process is often invisible to the user[5]. Additionally, since these systems are often used with media files such as MP3s, the same data exists on several accessible computers. Due to this redundancy, access to this data becomes reliable. Furthermore, due to the type of content shared, a relationship of trust between the provider of the data and the person accessing it is not required: the consequences of receiving a damaged multimedia file are minimal or non-existent[6]. two crucial elements of the success of such systems are that they allow you to collect an incredible number of files through merging files across many computers and that increasing the value of databases by adding more files is a natural byproduct of using the tools to your advantage[7].