peer - technical definition

On the same level or providing the same function. In networking, a peer is a node that provides the same functionality as another. For example, two desktop PCs in a network are peers. A desktop PC and a file server are not peers because they do not perform the same operations. The desktop PC may query the file server for business data, but the file server does not query the PC for the same data. A server might interrogate or monitor a PC, but for management purposes, not business data requests. See peering.