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Turnstile

Friday, June 4, 2004 by digitalpeer, updated Wednesday, August 11, 2004

This is still an active research project.

What is Turnstile?

Turnstile is a instant messaging and file sharing client that makes use of a peer-to-peer protocol. There is no central server used to facilitate the communication with buddies or the searching and downloading of files. Turnstile uses a custom protocol called YAWP that is scalable while maintaining accountability and security.

What is YAWP?

YAWP stands for Yet Another Wonderful Protocol. The acronym itself describes the quick straightforward operation of the protocol, similar to a dog's yawp. YAWP is the custom underlying peer-to-peer protocol that Turnstile uses to locate buddies and files, but can support finding the location of any service or resource very quickly.

How is Turnstile different from other P2P networks?

Turnstile is considered a second generation P2P network. The network uses a distributed hash table to locate data very quickly. There are certain features of the protocol that help maintain accountability and trust. I created this project in response to the growth of P2P, the drawbacks that existing networks have, and the need to move the technology along to meet more demanding needs of users and companies.

What about anonymity and security?

The YAWP protocol was designed with security as a major feature. YAWP currently uses 4096 bit RSA public key encryption and the Twofish symmetric block cipher on every single connection established. In other words, the data that is transferred, the type of connections made, and the type of packets transferred are extremely hard to determine by an intrusive third party.

What if I want to form my own private network?

Turnstile has the capability of forming private networks ultimately locking any node out of the network that does not have the correct pass phrase. You can create a private network with your friends or co-workers increasing security and protecting shared files from unwanted access. This further increases robustness of the protocol and aims to provide a better collaboration environment between peers.

What are the Turnstile requirements?

There are currently versions of turnstile for Windows and Linux. Binaries are available as well as the source code for custom compilation. Turnstile uses the wxWidgets (formerly wxWindows) library for the GUI. To compile Turnstile, you will need this library installed. The binary distributions of Turnstile already include an optimized version of the library.

Is Turnstile free and open source?

Turnstile is 100% free and open source. This project is aimed at research in the field of P2P and is intended to be a rource in the continuing effort to help P2P technology better collaboration and communication. You may download the complete source code, documentation, and protocol specifications as they become available.