ABSTRACT
Originally the Internet was a network of peer hosts. The progressive expansion of client–server protocols is just one development that has made this design less obvious. For example, transient Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP), and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) contribute to the increase of hosts on the Internet, allowing virtually any computer in the world to become a host but also creating asymmetry between transient nodes and nodes with static IP addresses. Similarly, the ever increasing number of local intranets with firewalls and Node Auto Terms (NATs) preventing nodes from being contacted by the Internet as well as local domain name servers assigning host names not visible from outside the intranet have contributed to this asymmetry.
