Probably my highest achievement so far as a computer geek, CUnap is a napster like file sharing service. CUnap is accessible to CU students only, due to the unique network and filter setup that the University has.

Check it out!

The CUnap Website is currently online at http://www.cunap.com

What is it?
CUnap uses the OpenNap Server under the GNU Public License. It is a server that has "cloned" the way napster worked. CUnap uses a modified version of WinMX for the client side, in addition to SSL based encryption software.

Is it popular?
Yes! CUnap has over 900 users overall, thats about 18% of the students that live on-campus at CU. Generally CUnap has over 600 users online, sharing about 3 terabytes of data. CUnap has a higher average file size than most OpenNap servers. This is due to the high speed of the internal network at CU, which allows an entire movie to be transferred in only a few minutes!

How does it work?
I re-wrote the OpenNap server to use SSL encryption, to bypass the Packeteer, the University's Filtering device. The clients use Stunnel to tunnel the WinMX data to the server. The server itself is on a 1 Mbit DSL, generously provided by DJ Pugget.

Can I start my own?
Sure! If you want to put forth the effort it will certainly pay off! You'll need the source code for the server, and all the client software, available at http://tiffanyandoc.tripod.com. Feel free to email me if you think you're up to the challenge. I'd be glad to help.

Unfortunately, no. The University of Colorado has installed a filter, which slows data transfers as they leave the University. This makes downloads only possible between people on CU's internal network. However, if you're interested in setting up your own "UniversityNap" service, the modified OpenNap source code is available here. And, the client software is available at the CUnap.com Public Mirror, at http://www.cunap.com/~hardingr/cunap/