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Download / Upload
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Definition: A download involves the receipt of a file copied from a remote network location. Often, a person downloads files to their personal computer from a remote server computer. In Microsoft email networks, for example, people download their email from an Exchange server to their Outlook client.

 Related Terms
• downstream
• P2P
 
 

An upload involves sending a copy of a file to a remote network location. For example, Web publishers upload files to their Web server.

Sending files across a computer network does not necessarily constitute an upload or a download. The terms are more commonly used in client/server networking than in peer-to-peer networking.

Related Resources:

What Is Peer to Peer?
Multi-part article discusses the basics of peer-to-peer (P2P) networking.

Client/Server Networking Index
Reference information about client/server networks organized by topic.

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