The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. The correct title is eDonkey2000.

eDonkey2000 is a peer-to-peer file sharing application developed by MetaMachine, using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol.

The eDonkey file sharing network is decentralized like many other file sharing networks. Two kinds of applications connect to the network: client and server. Clients allow users to connect to the network and to share files. Servers act as hubs for the clients. Both client and server are available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux and other UNIX variants.

eDonkey uses a compound MD4 hash checksum to identify files. This function allows identification of identical files with different filenames. Another feature of eDonkey is that it shares file segments before the download completes; this speeds up file distribution throughout the network.

The network is based on a decentralized server network. Anyone can set up a server. Because the server network changes frequently, clients must maintain server lists.

Users on eDonkey predominantly share large files of tens or hundreds of megabytes, such as CD images, videos, games, and software programs. To ease file searching, some websites list the checksums of sought-after files in the form of an ed2k link. Some of those websites also have lists of active servers for users to update.

There are numerous other clients for the eDonkey network, some of which are open source:

• eMule is an open source Windows client, and as of 2004 is much more popular than the MetaMachine client. Ports of eMule to Unix platforms include xMule, lMule and aMule (which aims to support Win32 and Mac too).
• MLDonkey is a free software client that runs on many platforms and supports numerous other file-sharing protocols as well.
• Shareaza is another open source multi-network client that has recently added support for eDonkey.
• MediaVAMP (later changed to Pruna) is a Korean only client.

As of 2003, most widely used ed2k server is Lugdunum, although MLDonkey provides an open source alternative.

The inventor of eDonkey invented another file-sharing network called Overnet, which interoperates with the eDonkey network, but without the use of any servers. Most eDonkey Clients now also use the Overnet network. In 2004, MetaMachines announced it would stop the development of Overnet to concentrate on eDonkey2000 (though the eDonkey2000 client now includes the Overnet protocol).

External links

• Review: eDonkey2000 (http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2002/eDonkey.html)
• Official Website (http://www.edonkey2000.com/)
• Related Program (http://www.overnet.com/)
• FileDonkey (http://www.filedonkey.com/) - p2p (edonkey,overnet) search engine
• TheDonkeyNetwork (http://www.thedonkeynetwork.com) General Website about technology, serverlists/stats, tools
• OvernetWorld (http://overnetworld.com/)
• Lugdunum2k - A Patched version of the original server (http://lugdunum2k.free.fr/index.html)

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