P2P - NAT bypass

On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 04:37:26PM -0400, Kevin Reid wrote:

> (Speaking of p2p, we really need a working NAT-bypass strategy --  
> that's most of why I'm not using/writing any distributed apps right  
> now.)

For more on this, it is useful to examine what Skype and other P2P
apps are doing, especially in the VoIP and VPN areas.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDP_hole_punching

  https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/vpn.asp?lang=en

Skype itself is constantly evolving... not without some controversy:

  (old article) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/08/how_does_skype_get_through/
  http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/26/find-out-if-your-computer-acts-as-a-skype-super-node/

One of the keys with anything like this is that the user should be
able to just install it and get it up and running without configuring
STUN server IP addresses or such.

Many current solutions seem to rely on first contacting a known
server, and from there learning what peers are close to you.

Cheers,

James