Taking Napster as the first popular example of peer-to-peer computing, the key differentiator was the fact that the nodes in the grid (the users) could exchange data (music) directly with one another.

我们将Napster作为对等计算的第一个流行的示例，它们之间的关键区别在于：网格中的节点(用户)可以直接彼此交换数据(比如音乐)。

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It can be confined to the network of computer workstations within a corporation across geographical boundaries, or it can be a public collaboration (for example, peer-to-peer computing).

它可以是一个公司中各个地理位置的计算机工作站网络，也可以是一个公共协作(例如，对等网络计算)。

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While Napster is a consumer example of peer-to-peer computing, with the right networking technologies in place, businesses will be able to use it to harness the power of multiple computers connected to the Internet to run compute-intensive applications, he said.

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Napster, hatched by a teenager, signals a new era of peer-to-peer computing--a Net that functions just fine without big expensive servers.

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But what exactly is peer-to-peer computing?

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