File sharing over a network
Me and my friend arrive at an arbitrary place, we have access to a network from there. Now, we want to share a file and the network connection is all we have. The challenge: make the file go from...
Me and my friend arrive at an arbitrary place, we have access to a network from there. Now, we want to share a file and the network connection is all we have. The challenge: make the file go from my device to my friends device in a pure p2p setting. If you know, for sure, that incoming connections are allowed this is very simple but here i want to explore which solutions exist that do not assume this.
Assumptions:
- Same network altough possibly different access points (one might be wired and the other wireless)
- We have no prior knowledge about the network, incoming traffic might be blocked (outgoing isn't for sure)
- No extra machines can aid in the transaction (no hole punching etc)
- Should work reliably for any kind of device that you have free -- as in freedom -- control over. that is PCs, android phones/tablets and macs. most of Apple's other hardware can be excluded because they don't allow for anything anyway.
- hard mode: We are both digitally illiterate
Goal:
- Send a file, p2p, from one party to another.
Me (MSc cs) and my friend (PhD cs) tried to do this last week. And it appears to be among the hardest problems in CS. I would like to discuss this and hear which solutions you might have for this problem.
Edits:
- this is not an assignment
- Added some specifics to the assumption set
- we're looking for practical solutions here.
- more specs