A Survey on High-Performance LAN File Transfer: Peer-To-Peer Architecture, Native Networking, and Cross-Platform Packaging

Abstract

Local Area Networks (LANs) routinely support wire speeds of 1 Gbps, yet most file-sharing solutions route data through cloud infrastructure, incurring unnecessary internet latency, uplink-speed bottlenecks, privacy exposure, and per-transfer costs. This paper surveys the state of the art in LAN-scoped peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfer, covering the evolution from FTP and SMB through browser-based WebRTC solutions to native-socket approaches. We analyse the performance trade-offs between interpreted-language and compiled-native networking stacks, evaluate device discovery protocols (mDNS, UDP broadcast, DHT), and review cross-platform desktop packaging strategies (Electron vs. Tauri). Based on this survey, we present the design and implementation of a LAN File Transfer Application that achieves measured throughput of 940 Mbps on a Gigabit LAN by implementing all socket operations in a C++ addon compiled into Node.js via N-API, with a React 18 + Electron 29 desktop shell and an automated CI/CD pipeline. Benchmarks confirm that the proposed system outperforms cloud-relay and browser-based alternatives by 10× or more under equivalent conditions.

Introduction

The text presents a survey and proposed design for a high-performance, LAN-native file transfer application that addresses the inefficiencies of existing file-sharing methods in fast local networks. Despite widespread Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure, most commonly used tools (cloud services, browser-based sharing apps, and terminal utilities) fail to fully utilize available bandwidth due to internet dependency, protocol overhead, or lack of usability.

Existing solutions show clear trade-offs:

• Terminal tools like netcat and rsync achieve near-maximum speed but lack GUI and ease of use.
• Browser-based tools like ShareDrop are convenient but limited by WebRTC overhead and file-size constraints.
• Cloud services such as Google Drive are slow because performance is limited by internet upload speeds.

To solve this, the proposed system introduces a GUI-based, zero-configuration, LAN-only file transfer application that achieves near-wire-speed performance (~940 Mbps).

Key design features:

• C++ backend for high-speed socket communication
• Electron + React GUI for cross-platform usability
• UDP broadcast discovery for automatic peer detection
• N-API integration for stable JavaScript–C++ interaction
• CRC-32 verification for file integrity
• TCP streaming with 64 KB chunks for optimized throughput

System workflow:

Peers discover each other via UDP, establish a TCP connection, exchange metadata, stream file data in chunks, and verify integrity before confirming transfer success.

Literature review highlights:

Prior work shows:

• Raw TCP and optimized chunking provide best performance
• WebRTC-based tools are convenient but significantly slower
• Cloud-based systems are bottlenecked by internet speed
• Electron and N-API enable cross-platform deployment but require careful optimization

Performance results:

• Proposed system achieves ~940 Mbps on Gigabit Ethernet, nearly matching raw socket performance
• Outperforms ShareDrop by 7–8× in speed
• Maintains very low CPU usage (~3%)
• Works efficiently across both wired and Wi-Fi networks

Conclusion

This paper has surveyed the state of the art in LAN file transfer tools and identified a gap: no existing open-source or commercial solution combines a graphical user interface, zero-configuration peer discovery, no file-size limit, internet independence, and near-wire-speed performance. Cloud relay tools are bounded by internet uplink speeds; terminal tools lack GUIs; browser-based WebRTC tools are bounded by JavaScript runtime overhead and browser sandbox constraints. The proposed LAN File Transfer Application fills this gap by implementing all socket operations in a native C++ addon compiled into Node.js via the stable N-API interface, with an Electron 29 + React 18 desktop shell and a GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline producing Windows and Linux installers. Empirical evaluation confirms 940 Mbps throughput on Gigabit Ethernet, CPU usage below 5%, discovery latency under 200 ms on switched Ethernet, and 100% CRC-32 integrity verification accuracy. Future work will add AES-256-GCM encryption, multi-file and directory transfer, resume capability, a Tauri v2.0 migration for size reduction, and mobile client support. The architecture demonstrates that a Node.js/Electron application can achieve native-socket performance by correctly isolating the hot data path in a compiled C++ layer.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Prof. Nagarathna C, Monika R, Reethika D N, Sahana U Deshmukh, Sushmita Iranna Bellad. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.