Beginners Guide To Overnet

Many people have heard of the p2p program and network called edonkey. What you may not know is that the edonkey project is dead. There will be no new versions, No bugs fixed. The writers are instead developing a new application and network called OVERNET. (www.overnet.com) This is a quick beginners guide to that network and program, to help you decide if this network is right for you.

INSTALLATION: The overnet install program tries to download the required .net framework if you dont have it. This crashes both of my machines on this step with a kernel error. I had to manually find the microsoft .net framework and install it myself. No real problems there. But not a good sign.

LOOK: Looks alot like edonkey for preschoolers. Very colorful.
Similar to the edonkey client but much much simpler looking. Very clear and easy to understand, Even if the layout is for the colorblind among us.

FEEL: Alot like edonkey. Same basic layout and commands. Just simpler and easier. VERY basic buttons, Search, download, options, and chat. Very basic and self explanatory.

CONNECTING: It connects right away the first time you run it and is all set to go. On par with most p2p apps in this respect.

HASH TIME: The first time you choose to share any files overnet must calculate a hash for each file. This step can take a VERY long time depending on the number and size of the files you wish to share. For several thousand files taking up several gig. This step may take a half an hour or longer depending on the speed of your cpu and drive system.

TRANSFER SYSTEM: It’s worth mentioning that overnet is like edonkey in how it handles transfers.
When you download a file, you download that file in little chunks. And as you get the chunks downloaded to your pc, they become available to upload to other users who are also getting the same file that you are. So you are always sharing. At least the file that you are downloading currently. An efficient system.

UPLOADS: Right after you share some files, or begin a download you will immediatly see people downloading from you. Speeds range from 1-15k/sec on cable. Effectively maxing out your cable uplink side.

DOWNLOADS: Now we come to one of the problems with overnet. In my experience i never saw a download of any sort go over 20k/sec. Pretty slow when you’ve got cable and are used to faster networks like kazaa. Looks even worse once you realize how many possible sources it has for your file. (TONS!)

RATIO: This is another problem with overnet. Especially for users of non symmetrical internet providers.
(Cable, Dsl. Where you download speed is much much higher than your allowed upload speed)

Overnet FORCES a sliding ratio on you. If you share at 1k/sec. You will only be allowed to download at 3k/sec. If you share at 9k/sec you are only allowed to download at 36k/sec max.

The only way to get the full speed from your download is to share at a speed of 10k/sec or greater. BUT! For most broadband users that have a 128 limit (12.8k/sec) this effectively maxes out your uplink.

While you are downloading you must use some of your uplink side to reply to each packet of data recieved. (Yes we got that part. Send us the next part.) And the uplink side is full already due to sharing.

So your downloads will begin to suffer and drop from their already slow speeds down to a crawl. There is no way around this. To get the most out of your download you must share at 10k effectively killing your downloads. Catch 22. Most cable and dsl users will see uploads going alot faster than your own downloads. And there is little you can do about it.

NETWORK TRAFFIC: Overnet seems to generate a MASSIVE ammount of traffic for any user that has tried overnet. This traffic will continue long after the last time you use overnet. Several days in fact. (Maybe even longer)
The overnet clients don’t seem to be able to tell when you have gone offline, stopped sharing a given file, changed IP’s, or are not even using overnet anymore. So the other clients in the world will continue to hammer your IP over and over trying to communicate with a client that is not there. The ammount of traffic is so large you may run into problems using other internet programs such as explorer or popuplar messenger programs. Your entire system starts to bog down. And i would hate to think what this would do to 56k users. Most dialup people have a dynamic IP that changes each time they connect. So each time you get a new IP. Overnet will continue to send traffic to the last IP you had. This could be really bad for anyone else to get that IP after you. Or bad for you if your neighbors are using overnet.

SELECTION: This is one of the few things overnet has in spades.
FILES to download. There’s a ton, many unique to overnet and edonkey. Combined with sharereactor (www.sharereactor.com) a site that lists known real files for overnet and edonkey, they have the largest selection of large REAL files you could download. (DVDs, Game isos, ect)But your inability to get those files may leave you screaming and swearing at your computer.

OVERALL: This program has potential. But its traffic problems, forced illogical ratio and limited download speed make it not really worth your time. This is an app to watch tho. Perhaps these problems will be fixed in future versions. I would not reccomend this program to anyone with a 128k or lower uplink speed. You won’t be happy. But if you have a large connection such as a t1 or t3 line. Overnet might be perfect for you.

www.overnet.com

-Stoner

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