instructions |
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how it works |
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jargon-free version |
technical version |
nearshare.net allows you to share files on your home or office network. The nearshare.net page includes a program that runs in your browser for as long as that page is open. When you choose to share a file, that program announces the file's availability to the local network. |
nearshare.net allows you to share files within a UDP broadcast domain. The nearshare.net page includes a Java applet. When you choose to share a file, the applet begins sending regular UDP broadcasts on port 7564 at a rate of approximately two per second. These broadcasts contain the filename and related metadata. |
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When others on your home or office network visit the page (which runs the program), their computers hear your announcements and display them in a list. When they click on a file they wish to receive from you, their browser connects directly to the program running in your browser, transferring the file. |
When others on your home or office network visit the page (which runs the applet), they receive your UDP broadcasts and display the results in a list. The URLs presented for each file point to a web server (NanoHTTPD) embedded within the applet running on your computer that serves your shared file(s) directly. |
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Your files never hit the Internet - they stay within your network at all times. |
Your files are never transferred to nearshare.net; the only information flowing between your browser and nearshare.net are the nearshare.net web pages, the applet itself, and the icons displayed in the list (from which, technically, some aggregated anonymous information could be gathered regarding the extensions of shared files). |