Pipes

In JXTA a communications channel between two peers can assume a virtual identity. A channel's connections are identified, not by the peers' IP addresses but by their endpoints.

Peers can refer to a channel independently of IP address.

If the address of a peer changes, the JXTA network can adjust the message routing to reflect the change.

Endpoints of a channel may understand different protocols (ex. TCP & HTTP).


In JXTA virtual communications channels are called Pipes.

Pipes are the main abstraction for direct peer-to-peer communication. Each pipe receives its own identifier and the system resolves all the IP issues via late binding.

JXTA pipes assume that only one-way message exchange is possible between two peers (GCF of protocols). Bidirectional communication between two peers constitutes two pipes.

Propagate pipes allow the transfer of a message from a node to multiple destinations.
Pipes can be secure (encrypted).
Pipes can be made "reliable", although they are assumed not.