This article compares features and other data aboutclient andserver software forDirect Connect, apeer-to-peer file sharingprotocol.
Direct Connect hubs are centralservers to which clients connect, thus the networks are not as decentralized asGnutella orFastTrack. Hubs provide information about the clients, as well as file-searching andchat abilities.File transfers are done directly between clients, in truepeer-to-peer fashion.
Hubs often have special areas of interest. Many have requirements on the total size of the files that their members share (share size), and restrictions on the content and quality of shares. A hub can have any arbitrary rule. Hubs can allow users to register and provide userauthentication. The authentication is also in clear text. The hub may choose certain individuals as operators (similar to IRC operators) to enforce said rules if the hub itself cannot.
While not directly supported by the protocol, hub linking software exists. The software allow multiple hubs to be connected, allowing users to share and/or chat with people on the other linked hubs. Direct connect hubs have difficultyscaling, due to the broadcast-centricity of the protocol.
| NMDC[1] hub | FOSS | Software license | Active [2] | Last update[3] (version) | GUI | CLI | Other | IPv6 support | Programming language | Based on | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFOHub | No | Proprietary Freeware | Yes | 2026-01-05 (25.26.1) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Unknown | ||
| Verlihub | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes | 2023-12-16 (1.5.0.0) | No | Yes | Unknown | No | C++,Lua,Python,Perl | ||
| PTDCH | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2009-01-16 (2.1 Alpha 7) | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | No | Visual Basic,Jscript,VBscript | DDCH | |
| Dtella | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2015-06-07 (1.2.9)[4] | No | No | Yes | No | Python | ||
| HeXHub | Yes | Open Software License | No | 2014-03-01 (5.12) | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | No | Assembly | ||
| Open Direct Connect Hub | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2014-08-14 (0.8.3) | No | Unknown | Unknown | No | C,Perl | Available inDebian[5] andOpenWrt[6] | |
| Flexhub | Yes | GNU AGPL | No | 2013-10-22 (Beta 0.2 svn 1469) | Pending | Yes | Unknown | No | Lua | ||
| PtokaX | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes | 2022-12-29 (0.5.3.0)[7] | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | C++,Lua | ||
| RusHub | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2012-06-10 (2.3.10)[8] | No | Yes | Unknown | Yes | C++,Lua | Verlihub[9] | |
| Eximius[10] | No | Proprietary Freeware | No | 2007 | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | No | C#,Lua | ||
| DB Hub | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2008-02-08 (0.451) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | No | Unknown | OpenDCHub | |
| openDCd | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2002-03-26 (0.5.8) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | No | Unknown | ||
| DDCH DevDirect Connect Hub | Unknown | Unknown | No | 2007-04-15 (?.?.?) | Yes | No | No | No | Visual Basic,Jscript | ||
| py-dchub | Yes | MIT | No | 2006-02-13 (0.2.4) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | No | Python | ||
| Aquila | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2015-02-17 (0.1.11-pre4-beta4) | No | Yes | No | No | C++,Lua | ||
| YnHub | No | Proprietary Freeware | No | 2016-07-15 (1.0364.126) | Yes | No | No | No | Delphi | ||
| LamaHub | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2010-04-25 (0.0.6.3) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | No | C | ||
| DC Sharp Hub | Yes | GNU GPL | No | 2004-09-06 (3.0.4 beta) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | No | C# | ||
| NMDC[1] hub | FOSS | Software license | Active [2] | Last update[3] (version) | GUI | CLI | Other | IPv6 support | Programming language | Based on |
| NMDC[1] hub | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UFOHub | Yes | No | No | No |
| Eximius | Yes | No | No | No |
| PTDCH | Yes | No | No | No |
| Aquila | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Dtella | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| HeXHub | Yes | No | No | No |
| Open Direct Connect Hub | No | Yes | No | OpenWrt |
| Flexhub | Yes | Yes | No | Qnap andSynologyNAS Devices |
| openDCd | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| DDCH DevDirect Connect Hub | Yes | No | No | No |
| DBHub | No | Yes | No | No |
| PtokaX | Yes | Yes | Yes | FreeBSD,OpenBSD,NetBSD,Solaris,illumos,Haiku |
| py-dchub | Yes | Yes | Yes | AnyPython compatible platform |
| RusHub | Yes | Yes | Yes | FreeBSD,Solaris |
| VerliHub | No | Yes | No | No |
| Yhub | Yes | No | No | No |
| Ynhub | Yes | No | No | No |
| LamaHub | Yes | Yes | Yes | OS/2,OpenBSD,NetBSD,TrueOS,FreeBSD, ZeX/OS, Android[11] |
| DC Sharp Hub | Yes | No | No | No |
| NMDC[1] hub | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other |
While not mandated by the protocol, most clients send a "tag". This is part of the client's description and display information ranging from client name and version to number of total available slots to if the user is using a proxy server. It was originally added toDC++, due to its ability to be in multiple hubs with the same instance. The information is arbitrary. The original client's file list (a comprehensive list of the files a user shares) was compressed usingHuffman's compression algorithm. Newer clients (among them DC++) serve anXML-based list, compressed withbzip2.
| NMDC[1] Client | FOSS | Software license | Last update[3] (version) | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other OS | GUI | CLI | Other UI | Programming language | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLDonkey | Yes | GNU GPL | 2020-06-06 (3.1.7-2) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | WebUI | OCaml,C,assembly | |
| Shareaza | Yes | GNU GPL | 2017-09-18 2.7.10.2 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | C++ | |
| NeoModus Direct Connect | No | Proprietary Freeware | 2004-10-23 2.205 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Visual Basic,C++ | |
| ShakesPeer | Yes | GNU GPL | 2013-06-08 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | C | |
| Valknut | Yes | GNU GPL | 2009-02-10 0.4.9 | No | Yes | No | FreeBSD | Yes | No | No | C++ | |
| DCTC | Yes | GNU GPL | 2004-01-24 0.85.9 | No | No | Yes | C++ | |||||
| DC# | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | C# | ||
| LDCC | Yes | GNU GPLv2 | 2004-07-15 2.0.7 | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | C | |
| DCDM++ | Yes | GNU GPL | 2004-04-04 0.021 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | C++ | DC++ |
| fulDC | Yes | GNU GPL | 2007-04-01 6.79 Beta 8 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | C++ | DC++ |
| RevConnect | Yes | GNU GPL | 2007-08-25 0.674p | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | C++ | DC++ |
| CzDC | Yes | GNU GPL | 2011-01-20 0.699 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | C++ | DC++ |
| EiskaltDC++ | Yes | GNU GPL | 2021-03-02 2.4.2 | No | Yes | Yes | FreeBSD | Yes | No | No | C++ | Valknut |
| microdc2 | Yes | GNU GPL | 2006-12-24 0.15.6 | No | Yes | Yes | FreeBSD | No | Yes | No | C | |
| NMDC[1] Client | FOSS | Software license | Last update[3] (version) | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other OS | GUI | CLI | Other UI | Programming language | Based on |
Hub linking software links hubs' main chat, so that users can see and respond to chat that is in a hub they're not directly connected to. Often used to draw in users to hubs, or make private or small hubs more widely known. Whereas advertising a hub is "frowned upon" and is usually repercussion with floods ordenial of service attacks, forming a more or less formal network by means of linking hub chat is a legitimate means for getting free publicity. Some Hub programs are able to support a more advanced form of linking which includes all the normal functions, chat, private messages, search and file transfers between users on different hubs can be supported through hub specific solutions or hub software neutral extensions using scripts/plug-ins.
| Other software | Software type | FOSS | Software license | Active[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jDCBot | General library | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes |
| Net::DirectConnect | General library | Yes | Unknown | Yes |
| FlowLib | General library | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes |
| DC-hublink | Link | Yes | GNU GPL | No |
| Hub-Link | Link | Yes | GNU GPL | No |
| MyIrcDcLinks | Link | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes |
| NetChatLink | Link | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes |
| Kitty | Bot | Yes | GNU GPL | No |
| Other software | Software type | FOSS | Software license | Active[2] |
| Other software | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jDCBot | Yes | Yes | Yes | AnyJava compatible platform |
| Net::DirectConnect | Yes | Yes | Yes | AnyPerl compatible platform |
| FlowLib | Yes | Yes | Yes | AnyC# compatible platform |
| DC-hublink | Yes | No | No | No |
| Hub-Link | Yes | No | No | No |
| MyIrcDcLinks | Yes | No | No | No |
| NetChatLink | Yes | No | No | Runs underWINE |
| Kitty | Yes | No | No | No |
| Other software | Windows | Linux | macOS | Other |
| Other software | GUI | CLI | Other | Programming language | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jDCbot | No | No | No | Java | |
| Net::DirectConnect | No | No | No | Perl | |
| FlowLib | No | No | No | C# | |
| DC-hublink | Yes | No | No | Visual Basic | |
| Hub-Link | Yes | No | No | Visual Basic | |
| MyIrcDcLinks | Yes | No | No | Delphi | |
| NetChatLink | Yes | No | No | Delphi | |
| Kitty | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | C# | |
| Other software | GUI | CLI | Other | Programming language | Based on |
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