Taking the Power Back with Web Meshes

1

WebTorrent

A web mesh starts by a browser connecting to one or more WebTorrent servers and offering its SDP data. This SDP data contains information about how to connect to the offering browser via WebRTC. It also requests SDP data for any other browser that has already connected to the WebTorrent server similarly. These SDP data offers and requests are scoped to a specific, client-determined namespace (or "room") so that users only connect with others that have the same namespace/room name. Once SDP data is exchanged, browsers can then connect directly to each other. Each browser maintains a connection to the WebTorrent trackers to automatically connect to other browsers that try to connect to the room similarly later, but that is the only type of dynamic client/server interaction.

#Torrents #Video Streaming #Watch Movies Online 30 social mentions

2

WebRTC

P2P is nothing new. It is a long-established means of connecting two or more people directly over a network. Web browsers are very capable of a wide range of P2P connections. Many apps use WebRTC to enhance realtime apps, but it is still an underutilized technology. Even with WebRTC, many apps are designed around the dependence on a central app server with WebRTC performing a user experience enhancement. Web meshes turn this idea on its head: Instead of using P2P connections to enhance the user experience, what if P2P connections were the foundation of the user experience? In other words, what if there was no central server?

#Video Conferencing #Group Chat & Notifications #Communication 47 social mentions