Directive
Peer-to-peer traffic, with limited exceptions that can be tracked separately (e.g. World of Warcraft updates) is severely limited via bandwidth shaping.
Rationale
While peer-to-peer (P2P) applications can be used for legitimate purposes (e.g., distribution of Linux kernels), the vast majority of peer-to-peer traffic involves unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials (e.g., music or movies). Shepherd University does not condone or facilitate the use of University resources for illegal purposes (see the Acceptable Usage Agreement). Furthermore, the design of the peer-to-peer protocols is such that unmanaged use of P2P would result in significantly degraded performance to the rest of our campus community.
If you are using a P2P application for appropriate academic purposes, please contact IT Services for assistance.