Function

• The traditional model for networking communication is "client-server"-- a client asks the server for a service. "Peer-to-peer" is an alternative architecture that took off when the public began to participate in file sharing systems. In these systems, each member makes all the files on his computer available for copying. A member downloads a file in segments, sourcing different segments from different members.
  
  

Closed Protocol

• The FastTrack protocol is kept secret. It is commercial property and its owners do not want to give it away for free. However, curious developers have reverse engineered the system by detecting the format of FastTrack packets as they cross the Internet.
  
  

Features

• Anyone anywhere in the world can connect to a FastTrack network, which could lead to congestion and confusion, so FastTrack nominates "supernodes," which host routing on behalf of others, creating sub networks. These supernodes are privately owned computers and the owners are not aware that their property is being used to provide infrastructure to the network.