“P2P software” is any software that is designed to share files among multiple users in an uncontrollable way. “Uncontrollable” means that standard networking tools cannot stop the file sharing because the software was written to circumvent all standard methods of controlling network traffic.
P2P traffic from all of ResNet overwhelms the internet connection that serves ResNet. Due to P2P traffic, there have been a significant number of student complaints that the internet in their dorm rooms is unusable. Adding on to the available internet bandwidth has only resulted in more P2P traffic that uses up the new bandwidth instantly. The network connections in the dorms are provided for students primarily to facilitate their education, and other uses are secondary.
P2P programs are not considered useful to student education and make up the largest abuse of the ResNet network bandwidth, resulting in poor to non-existent network performance for all ResNet users. The saturation of the ResNet network also has the potential to affect the rest of the UCF network outside of ResNet. To prevent bandwidth abuse, accidental or intentional, Network Services has prohibited the use of any P2P traffic. All network users must adhere to this policy for the responsible use of P2P software.
See Use of Information Technology and Resources Policy and The Golden Rule/Student Handbook.
For the purpose of this policy, the following terms are described as follows:
Since Network Services monitors software protocol and not content, some programs that use P2P as part of their programming will not be exempted from the prohibition. For example, World of Warcraft uses BitTorrent to distribute its patches by default. However, World of Warcraft also offers the option of using standard web downloads for updates and not P2P protocols, as do most major games. Check your documentation for how to disable P2P protocols in all the software you own.
Network Services does not keep a comprehensive list of every program or activity that uses the above protocols. We do know that while Skype used to use a version of FastTrack, we don’t detect the Skype version. iTunes also uses DAAP for sharing your iTunes library to other users on the network in some situations. It is the student’s responsibility to understand the software that they are installing and running on their PCs and to make sure that any of the above protocols are disabled.
Network Services will gladly review and post on this website any student-submitted instructions or tips to help others disable their P2P.
The Background Downloader is the part of the program that downloads the new patches using BitTorrent connections. Click here to disable the Background Downloader.
Click here to open up a wiki that gives alternate links for downloading the updates using http connections through a browser.
This page contains standards for servers in compliance with UCF security policies and best practices. Such standards will provide an understanding of what departments should be doing in protecting computer systems against attack and lose of data.