JXTA is a new protocol put forward by Sun Microsystems. JXTA is an attempt to standardize on significant portions of the structure used in peer-to-peer applications development. In order to understand the significance of this protocol, it is necessary to understand important differences between peer-to-peer models and between those models and the client-server model. There are several areas that need to be examined to understand this fully. First, I compared a many aspects of a general peer-to-peer model to the client-server model. Reliability, scalability, maintainability, anonymity, connectivity, accountability, data integrity, system costs and bandwidth were the areas covered. In some areas there is a clear winner and in others ambiguous conclusions.Second, I examine the different peer-to-peer architecture classifications that exist today. In this examination, I discuss the usefulness of the architecture model and how it compares to the others. Next, I define the JXTA protocol and go into detail on why it was developed. I examine the reasons given for its creation and how it has progressed since its creation. Fourth, I classify the JXTA architecture and that of several existing peer-to-peer applications. This is followed with a comparison of those applications and how JXTA may improve peer-to-peer technology. I then take a look at the present usage of JXTA and look at its future applications. Lastly, I present some conclusions on the usefulness of peer-to-peer versus client-server and the importance of JXTA in relation to the peer-to-peer concept.