Doctors request help using P2P with HTTP proxy connection

[CtrlAltDel]

Hello Everyone,

We are a group of doctors trying to establish a method whereby essential medical articles and protocols can be shared and downloaded by institutions across the world with moderate (or less) Internet speeds. After quite a bit of discussion we realised that P2P clients were probably the best method for this. But here's our problem:
We found that 90% of the hospitals that will use the service are LAN's connecting to the internet through a HTTP proxy server (like our hospital does) and all the clients we've tested so far do not work through this system. Therefore we thought that if we could get any P2P working on our system we could explain to others how to do it on theirs. So as a test case here's our setup:

1) We have a number of computers with various IP addresses starting with 172.16.XX.XX in a LAN connecting to the internet through a proxy server which we believe is a HTTP <Get> type of proxy connection with the value 172.16.19.11 - port: 80. We know the last details are correct because we have successfully used those values in a test with other programs requiring proxy connection details (like Flashget and GetRight).
2) And that's it :( . Unfortunately all of us involved in the project are moderately computer savvy but UTTER NEEWBIES at P2P, networking and the rest. We realised after searching theses forums prior to posting that many people have similar problems but because of our inexperience we HAVE NO IDEA what all the "port forwarding", "routers" and all the rest mentioned mean.

So, could anyone please help us in the following ways:

1) Suggest one P2P client and one BitTorrent client that can work through a HTTP proxy connection.
2) Or, if that's not possible how to run the above clients through a HTTP proxy connection by using downloaded tools or/and modifying the settings ON THE LOCAL COMPUTER ONLY (since we can expect no support from out system administrator at all).
3) Or any other suggestions you might think may be helpful.

Your help in this matter will probably save some lives if we can pull it off so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading such a long post but like I said, we're a bunch of neewbies :) .

P.S. We are posting this message at many sites so forgive us if this is not particularly suited to one particular specialist (i.e. BitTorrent/eDonkey/Gnutella) forum.

[wonderboy2005]

I really dont think sharing sensitive information, such as that which doctors would share amongst themselves, should be done using a P2P program. The majority of P2P programs are very insecure, being that their intent is to "Share" stuff - not keep it from others.

There are some P2P clients that would work for this task - for example, you could have a computer host a Direct Connect hub that is password protected, or a Waste network, which would be even better. However, what ever you do, do not use bit torrent. bit torrent is just about completely void of any means of security. And even if it were secure, it wouldn't help with speeds at all since (I'd imagine) the demand for any given file would be very low.

If it were my choice, I would set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This would allieviate your network problems, and also be very secure.

[Malicious Intent]

You only need to post once, you gain nothing my posting more. This goes for other forums too - you will have a lot of pissed people if you do this everywhere!

To answer the question:
http://www.your-freedom.net/index.pl/en/home.html - is software to get P2P working in difficult situations.
http://www.your-freedom.net/index.pl/en/documentation/bittorrent.html - Discusses how to set up the Azureus and BitSpirit BitTorrent clients.

I'm awaiting feedback from someone trying this in student halls of residence where only internet browsing is allowed.

[Malicious Intent]

Wonderboy has a good point. VPN is a good idea. Another problem with BT and other P2P is that it is very sensitive to how computers are connected. As a general rule, at least one computer needs a direct connection to the net for the two computers to be able to communicate.

ShareDirect by a company called Laplink might help. They keep sending me promotional stuff. The software is for private P2P networks. It cost money (or will do), but they sit in the middle of connections, making the fact you don't have a direct connection less important. However, the other restrictions on your network will probably limit you.

[FrozenShadow23]

or you could try WASTE.

[eivioolla]

Unfortunately WASTE which would otherwise be ideal for this does not support any kind of proxy connections. Peer2Mail might work as it uses a mail server as an intermediary. The bottom line is that both ends of a connection can not be proxied for a direct connection to be possible.

[black_magiic]

What about Amishare. as much as everyone riduculed and made fun of it. I found it works pretty good.

[ducttapeBigSexy]

Now, I'm not sure of the level of this exactly, but if this is going to involve a great deal of money, you could always contact a p2p company and have them develop a file sharing program for you. Yes, it would be expensive, but, you could have it made exactly to your liking. As for firewalls and such, if you would go the custom p2p development package, NAT translation (i believe that's what it's called) can be done without having to worry about firewalls, routers, and the such - Skype was able to implement it.

Also, I would agree with many of the previous posts - stay away from Bittorrent and standard clients, as they are anything but secure! Setup a WASTE network or a VPN to keep things secure. Also, make sure that whatever client you decide on, make sure it doesn't have any spyware in it!

I've also heard of folder share - it may be able to help you in this case (possibly - once again, I'm not 100% on what you're doing)

Hope this helps! :)

[crackerjacker]

how about just using bittorent and seeding the files, thats the best bet. Its easy, all you have to do is have someone seed the files 24/7 etc, then have the torrents available in a private forum for these doctors. They will be able to access the private area via passwords. They can share this amongst the fellow doctors. thats the best solution. that way the bandwidth is shared.

[CRLocky]

though i'm not the most educated in this area... my thoughts paralleled crackerjacker's. if they set up a specific private forum/site for them to log into with a user+pass, and have the files constantly seeded, why wouldn't it be secure?

[eivioolla]

how about just using bittorent and seeding the files, thats the best bet. Its easy, all you have to do is have someone seed the files 24/7 etc, then have the torrents available in a private forum for these doctors. They will be able to access the private area via passwords. They can share this amongst the fellow doctors. thats the best solution. that way the bandwidth is shared.

The problem is that if 90% of the peers are proxied then they can only connect to the remaining 10% that are not, so the bandwidth load will be essentially on the 10%.

Also if one from 90% will be seeding, then peers from the 10% are required to connect for the rest of the 90% to be able to download.

[wonderboy2005]

how about just using bittorent and seeding the files, thats the best bet. Its easy, all you have to do is have someone seed the files 24/7 etc, then have the torrents available in a private forum for these doctors. They will be able to access the private area via passwords. They can share this amongst the fellow doctors. thats the best solution. that way the bandwidth is shared.

That concept is called 'Security through obscurity.' While the chances of a network of this type being comprimised is low, it would be very devistating if it were. All it would take is some curious kid with too much time on his hands to find the tracker's IP and look for torrents. once (s)he finds one, they can get it, no problem. Bye-Bye patient-doctor confidentiality.

I still think a VPN would be the best solution. Throw in a little PGP encryption, and nothing will get into the wrong hands.

I Suppose PGP could be used with BT, or any filesharing app, but that's like putting all your eggs in one basket. not a good idea.

[CtrlAltDel]

Thank you all for your replies. However, we seem to have unintentionally created some confusion:

First, to WonderBoy2005, security is NOT an issue as the files we hope to share do not contain any patient data at all - they are just medicals articles and protocols that are frequently updated, for example "Best Antibiotic Regime" for any give disease or the protocol for accidental pinprick by HIV contaminated needle. Therefore we'd be happy if a hacker happens to take a look, maybe he?d learn something :).
So, we hope to learn to use P2P/BitTorrent clients on our computer system so we can teach others, as most have similar setups - there's not really an idea of DIRECT hospital-to-hospital sharing. Since our hospital line is frequently down, a direct link or VPN cannot be considered. It's the very (comparatively) decentralized nature of P2P/BitTorrent downloading that makes the frequent downtime experienced by the hospitals in our interest group irrelevant - if one place is down the others can still download from other places. In addition, we have zero funding so pay options are sadly out :(.
To CrackerJacker, we plan (eventually) to seed BitTorrent files but face the same problem: how to download these files if we cannot get BitTorrent to work on HTTP proxy setups?
To Black Magiic - we will try Amishare and post with results.

So, to make the request simpler - Forget about the computers on either end being proxied, how do we use a P2P/Bitorrent client on a local computer on a single HTTP proxy network (i.e. ours) to download from the Internet in general?

Secondly, to Malicious Intent, a question of Net posting manners: What did we do wrong? Did we post the same message twice on the same forum (in which case that was a complete mistake) or did we post the same message too many times in different sub forums of this site (we tried to post on the Gnutella, Overnet, BitTorrent and General subforums too but apparently we were erased after posting - we thought this would give us better exposure to particular client specialists who would not look at other subforums). In either case, WE APOLOGISE but would like to know what we're apologizing for :).Oh, and we tried using the Your Freedom Proxy with resounding failure - too unstable.

To everybody to replied, thank you very much for your time. We will attempt your suggestions and get back to you.

[Whistler]

or did we post the same message too many times in different sub forums of this site (we tried to post on the Gnutella, Overnet, BitTorrent and General subforums too but apparently we were erased after posting - we thought this would give us better exposure to particular client specialists who would not look at other subforums). In either case, WE APOLOGISE but would like to know what we're apologizing for :)

im sure your intentions were good but thats a no no. But good luck your idea is definitly a good one

[eivioolla]

So, to make the request simpler - Forget about the computers on either end being proxied, how do we use a P2P/Bitorrent client on a local computer on a single HTTP proxy network (i.e. ours) to download from the Internet in general?.

Download BitComet (http://www.bitcomet.com) go to options->preferences and in the Proxy field choose proxy type HTTP and put the IP address of your proxy in the Proxy server field and the port in the Proxy port field. I have not tried it but I would presume it works.

[Afn]

Thank you all for your replies. However, we seem to have unintentionally created some confusion:

First, to WonderBoy2005, security is NOT an issue as the files we hope to share do not contain any patient data at all - they are just medicals articles and protocols that are frequently updated, for example "Best Antibiotic Regime" for any give disease or the protocol for accidental pinprick by HIV contaminated needle. Therefore we'd be happy if a hacker happens to take a look, maybe he?d learn something :).

Sounds like you need a CMS and web portal to share files, not a p2p app. Php Nuke, vBulletin or PhpBB plus and a web server is all you need. Ask your hospital IT department or webmaster how to set up a web portal behind a a firewall.

[CtrlAltDel]

To Eivioolla, thanks for the BitComet tip but that leads to another question: can anyone give us a step by step guide to forwarding our ports since apparently that's required for using BitTorrent behind a HTTP proxy?
To Afn, again the problem of our frequent down times and non intrest by our useless IT section means those solutions are not viable, but thanks anyway.

[Afn]

To Afn, again the problem of our frequent down times and non intrest by our useless IT section means those solutions are not viable, but thanks anyway.
Then use direct connect hub and client like dc++ or odc++. The interface allows for quick searching and mirroring of articles.

[CtrlAltDel]

Ok, so the clients to try :
1) the Your Freedom proxy
2) Amishare
3) BitComet
Will try all these and get back to you.
Till then, thanks all.

[F0wler]

Then use direct connect hub and client like dc++ or odc++. The interface allows for quick searching and mirroring of articles.

Dc is a fantastic option, if you want to reate a small network. It's pretty fast, and since there's no security issue, you're in business. I would wholeheartedly recomend dc.

Sorry about your IT section, many of those employed to do such a job are dreadful people, obsessed with their own egos and self ambition.
I have also met some very helpful it people too.....

[Breadtrk]

Case of Beer or a small sack of weed will get the IT guys on your team. Simply calling them useless is biting the hand that feeds you.