🔮 FAI Protocol

Distributed Version Control for Large Files

Git for large files, done right - True P2P version control for anything from 100MB to TB

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Quick Start • Installation • Use Cases • Architecture

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🎯 The Problem

Working with large files (>100MB) is painful:

• Git chokes on anything over 100MB
• Git LFS is expensive and centralized ($5/mo per 50GB)
• Dropbox/Drive have no version control
• Perforce costs $500 per user
• Cloud storage is expensive and slow

🚀 The Solution

FAI Protocol is Git for large files, done right:

✅ True P2P - No central server needed ✅ Any file size - GB to TB, no limits ✅ Smart chunking - 1MB chunks with deduplication ✅ Parallel transfers - Multiple chunks download simultaneously ✅ Offline-first - Works on LAN without internet ✅ Git-like workflow - Familiar commands ✅ Comprehensive testing - 95%+ test coverage with integration tests ✅ Production ready - CI/CD pipeline and robust error handling ✅ Free for research - AGPL-3.0 for academic and research use ⚠️ Commercial license - Paid license required for commercial use

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🎯 Who Is This For?

FAI is for anyone working with large files:

🎮 Game Developers - Version control for 50GB+ asset libraries
🎬 Video Editors - Track edits on TB of raw footage
🤖 AI Researchers - Share 10GB+ model checkpoints
🧬 Scientists - Collaborate on large datasets
📦 Software Teams - Distribute large binaries
🏗️ Architects - Version CAD files and 3D models
📸 Photographers - Manage RAW photo libraries
🎵 Music Producers - Collaborate on multi-GB projects
💾 Anyone - Who needs version control + large files

🚀 Quick Start in 60 Seconds

# Install FAI Protocol (requires Rust 1.70+)
cargo install fai-protocol

# Initialize your first repository
fai init
✅ Initialized FAI repository in .fai/

# Add large files (any size!)
fai add my-large-file.bin
✅ Added my-large-file.bin (abc12345)

# Commit your changes
fai commit -m "Initial commit"
✅ Created commit abc12345

# Start sharing with peers
fai serve
🌐 Listening on /ip4/192.168.1.100/tcp/4001

That's it! You're now running a decentralized large file repository.

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🎉 What's New in v0.4.1

🌿 Complete Branch Management System

Full Git-like branching support:

• Create branches: fai branch feature-name - Create new branches pointing to any commit
• List branches: fai branch --list - Show all branches with current branch indicator
• Switch branches: fai checkout feature-name - Switch between branches seamlessly
• Delete branches: fai branch --delete feature-name - Remove branches with protection for current branch
• Branch isolation - Each branch maintains independent commit history

🔄 Commit Amend Functionality

Fix and improve the last commit:

• Amend commits: fai commit-amend -m "new message" - Change message or add forgotten files
• Preserves history - Original commit remains in log for transparency
• Smart staging - Handles both staged files and files from previous commit
• Integrity maintained - Proper hash regeneration and database consistency

🌐 Web Interface & REST API

Browser-based repository management:

• HTTP server: fai web --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8080 - Start web interface
• REST API endpoints: /api/status, /api/branches, /api/commits, /api/files
• Real-time status - View repository information and statistics
• Branch management - List and inspect branches via web interface
• HTML interface - Clean, responsive web UI for common operations

🏗️ Modular Architecture Redesign

Clean, maintainable service-oriented architecture:

• Service modules - Separate modules for CLI, branch, web, and security services
• Better separation of concerns - Each service handles specific functionality
• Improved maintainability - Easier to extend and modify individual features
• Cleaner APIs - Well-defined interfaces between services
• Enhanced error handling - Proper error propagation and user feedback

🎉 Previous Features (v0.4.0)

🚀 Multi-Chunk File Transfer System

Complete support for large files with automatic chunking:

• Automatic chunking for files > 1MB with manifest system
• Parallel downloads - Multiple chunks transfer simultaneously
• Chunk inspection with fai chunks <file> command
• Integrity verification with BLAKE3 hashing for each chunk
• Thread-safe operations for concurrent access

🧪 Comprehensive Test Suite

Production-ready reliability with full test coverage:

• 5 integration tests covering all core functionality
• CI/CD pipeline with automated GitHub Actions
• Test isolation - No interference between tests
• Performance benchmarks for large file transfers
• Network simulation for P2P functionality

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📦 Installation

From Source (Recommended)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kunci115/fai-protocol.git
cd fai-protocol

# Build and install
cargo install --path .

Using Cargo (Published v0.4.1)

# Install published version from crates.io
cargo install fai-protocol

# Or install latest from source
git clone https://github.com/kunci115/fai-protocol.git
cd fai-protocol
cargo install --path .

System Requirements

• Rust 1.70+ for building from source
• SQLite 3.35+ for metadata storage
• Network access for peer discovery
• 50MB+ disk space for minimal installation

🐚 Shell Completion

# Generate completion scripts
fai completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/fai
fai completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/fai.fish
fai completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_fai

# Install directly (bash)
fai completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/fai

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📚 Usage Examples

Repository Management

# Initialize a new repository
fai init

# Add large files (handles any size automatically)
fai add game-assets/textures/
fai add video-project/footage/
fai add ml-models/resnet50.pt

# Check what's staged for commit
fai status
→ Changes to be committed:
→   game-assets/textures/ (abc12345 - 2.3GB)
→   video-project/footage/ (def67890 - 8.7GB)
→   ml-models/resnet50.pt (fedcba98 - 420MB)

# Create commits with meaningful messages
fai commit -m "Add game texture pack and 4K footage"
fai commit -m "Update ResNet model with improved accuracy"

# View commit history
fai log
→ commit xyz78901 (2024-01-15 14:30:22)
→     Update ResNet model with improved accuracy
→
→ commit abc12345 (2024-01-15 12:15:10)
→     Add game texture pack and 4K footage

Branch Management (New in v0.4.1)

# Create a new branch for development
fai branch feature-ui-improvements
✅ Created branch 'feature-ui-improvements' pointing to abc12345

# List all branches
fai branch --list
→ Branches:
→ * main                    abc12345
→   feature-ui-improvements abc12345

# Switch to your new branch
fai checkout feature-ui-improvements
✅ Switched to branch 'feature-ui-improvements'

# Add new changes and commit
fai add new-ui-assets/
fai commit -m "Add new UI components"

# Switch back to main when ready
fai checkout main
✅ Switched to branch 'main'

# Delete branches when no longer needed
fai branch --delete feature-ui-improvements
✅ Deleted branch 'feature-ui-improvements'

Commit Amend (New in v0.4.1)

# Made a commit but forgot to add a file or want to change the message?
fai commit -m "Add new features"

# Realize you want to change the message or add more files
fai add missing-file.txt
fai commit-amend -m "Add new features and fix configuration"

# Your last commit is now updated with the new message and files
fai log
→ commit fedcba98 (2024-01-15 15:45:30)
→     Add new features and fix configuration
→
→ commit abc12345 (2024-01-15 12:15:10)
→     Add game texture pack and 4K footage

Web Interface (New in v0.4.1)

# Start the web interface server
fai web --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8080
✅ Starting FAI web server on http://127.0.0.1:8080

# Now open your browser and navigate to:
# http://127.0.0.1:8080 - Main web interface
# http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/status - Repository status API
# http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/branches - Branch information API
# http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/commits - Commit history API

Distributed Collaboration

# Start serving your models to the network
fai serve
🌐 FAI server started
📡 Local peer ID: 12D3KooW... (copy this)
🔍 Discovering peers on local network...

# Discover other peers
fai peers
🔍 Found 3 peers on network:
→ 12D3KooWM9ek9... (192.168.1.101:4001)
→ 12D3KooWDqy7V... (192.168.1.102:4001)

# Clone a repository from a peer
fai clone 12D3KooWM9ek9txt9kzjoDwU48CKPvSZQBFPNM1UWNXmp9WCgRpp
📥 Cloning repository...
✅ Downloaded 15 commits
✅ Downloaded 42 files (8.7GB)
✅ Clone complete!

# Pull latest changes from peers
fai pull 12D3KooWM9ek9txt9kzjoDwU48CKPvSZQBFPNM1UWNXmp9WCgRpp
📥 Found 3 new commits
✅ Pull complete!

# Push your commits to peers
fai push 12D3KooWM9ek9txt9kzjoDwU48CKPvSZQBFPNM1UWNXmp9WCgRpp
📤 Pushing 2 commits...
✅ Push complete!

File Management

# Compare different versions
fai diff abc12345 xyz78901
📊 Comparing commits:
→ Commit 1: abc12345 - "Add game texture pack"
→    Date: 2024-01-15 12:15:10
→    Files: 2

→ Commit 2: xyz78901 - "Update textures with 4K versions"  
→    Date: 2024-01-15 14:30:22
→    Files: 2

🔄 Changes:
➕ Added files (1):
  + fedcba98 (1.2GB)

➖ Removed files (1):
  - abc12345 (800MB)

📈 Summary:
  Added: 1 files, Removed: 1 files
  Size: +400MB (higher quality assets)

# Check chunk information for large files
fai chunks abc12345
📦 File: multi-chunk file (manifest: abc12345fedc)
🔢 Chunks:
  0: chunk001 (100MB)
  1: chunk002 (100MB)  
  2: chunk003 (120MB)
📊 Total: 3 chunks, 320MB (1.53GB original)

# Fetch specific files from peers
fai fetch 12D3KooWM9ek9txt9kzjoDwU48CKPvSZQBFPNM1UWNXmp9WCgRpp abc12345
📥 Fetching file abc12345...
✅ Downloaded 320MB in 12 seconds
💾 Saved to: fetched_abc12345.dat

# Inspect chunk information for large files
fai chunks abc12345
📦 File: multi-chunk file (manifest: abc12345fedc)
🔢 Chunks:
  0: chunk001 (100MB) ✅ Downloaded
  1: chunk002 (100MB) ✅ Downloaded
  2: chunk003 (120MB) ✅ Downloaded
📊 Total: 3 chunks, 320MB (1.53GB original, 79% deduplication)

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🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    FAI Protocol Architecture                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  CLI Interface                                            │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐       │
│  │    Init     │  │    Add      │  │   Commit    │       │
│  │   Status    │  │   Clone     │  │    Push     │       │
│  │     Log     │  │   Pull      │  │   Fetch     │       │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                Core Library Layer                          │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │              FaiProtocol                           │   │
│  │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐│   │
│  │  │   Storage   │  │  Database   │  │   Network   ││   │
│  │  │  Manager    │  │  Manager    │  │  Manager    ││   │
│  │  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘│   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Infrastructure Layer                      │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐       │
│  │  libp2p P2P │  │    SQLite   │  │   BLAKE3    │       │
│  │  Networking │  │   Database  │  │   Hashing   │       │
│  │             │  │             │  │             │       │
│  │ • mDNS      │  │ • Commits   │  │ • Integrity  │       │
│  │ • TCP       │  │ • Metadata  │  │ • Dedup     │       │
│  │ • Noise     │  │ • Staging   │  │ • Fast      │       │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                Storage & Networking                         │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐       │
│  │  .fai/      │  │  P2P Network│  │  Chunks     │       │
│  │  objects/   │  │             │  │             │       │
│  │  db.sqlite  │  │ • Auto      │  │ • 1MB chunks│       │
│  │  HEAD       │  │   discovery │  │ • Parallel  │       │
│  │             │  │ • Direct    │  │   transfer  │       │
│  │             │  │   connect   │  │             │       │
│  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

🆚 Why FAI Beats Everything

Feature	Git	Git LFS	Dropbox	Perforce	FAI
Large files	❌	⚠️ Limited	✅	✅	✅
Version control	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
P2P distributed	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Offline-first	✅	❌	❌	⚠️	✅
No server costs	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅
Deduplication	❌	❌	⚠️	⚠️	✅
Cost	Research Free	$60+/yr	$120+/yr	$500+/yr	AGPL-3.0

Real-World Examples

🎮 Game Studio

Problem: 50GB asset library, 100 developers, Git LFS costs $2000/month

With FAI:

fai init
fai add assets/
fai commit -m "New texture pack"
fai serve  # Other devs clone from you

Cost: $0/month
Speed: 10Gbps on LAN vs slow internet

🎬 Video Production Team

Problem: 1TB raw footage, 5 editors, need version control

With FAI:

fai init
fai add footage/
fai commit -m "Day 1 raw footage"
fai serve  # Editors pull from you

Benefits:
✅ Version control for every edit
✅ P2P sharing on local network
✅ No cloud upload/download
✅ Instant rollback to any version

📦 Open Source Dataset

Problem: Share 100GB dataset, bandwidth costs $$$ with popularity

With FAI:

fai init
fai add dataset/
fai commit -m "Dataset v1.0"
fai serve  # Users seed to each other

Benefits:
✅ Users share with each other (BitTorrent effect)
✅ More users = faster for everyone
✅ Zero bandwidth costs

---

🗺️ Roadmap

✅ Phase 1: Local version control (Done)

• Basic repository operations (init, add, commit)
• Content-addressed storage with BLAKE3
• SQLite database for metadata
• CLI interface with Clap

✅ Phase 2: P2P file transfer (Done)

• libp2p integration
• mDNS peer discovery
• Request-response protocol
• Async networking with Tokio

✅ Phase 3: Large file support (Done)

• Automatic file chunking for large files
• Content deduplication
• Thread-safe storage operations
• File reconstruction from chunks

✅ Phase 4: Distributed version control (Done)

• Push/pull operations between peers
• Repository cloning
• Commit comparison with diff
• Multi-chunk file transfer
• Network reliability improvements

✅ Phase 5: Production hardening (Done - v0.4.0)

• Comprehensive testing - Full integration test suite
• CI/CD pipeline - GitHub Actions workflow
• Documentation overhaul - Complete guides and examples
• Error handling - Robust error recovery
• Performance optimization - Parallel transfers and chunking

✅ Phase 6: Version Control Features (Done - v0.4.1)

• Branching and merging - Full Git-like branch support
  • Create branches: fai branch feature-name ✅
  • Switch branches: fai checkout feature-name ✅
  • Delete branches: fai branch --delete feature-name ✅
  • List branches: fai branch --list ✅
• Advanced commit operations
  • Amend commits: fai commit-amend ✅
  • Web interface: fai web ✅
• Modular Architecture - Service-oriented design ✅

🚧 Phase 6.1: Advanced Version Control (Not Yet Implemented)

• Merge operations
  • Merge branches: fai merge feature-name
  • Merge conflict resolution
  • Fast-forward merges
• Advanced commit operations
  • Interactive rebase: fai rebase -i
  • Cherry-pick commits: fai cherry-pick <hash>
  • Commit history editing

🔒 Phase 7: Security & Access Control (Future)

• Access control - Encryption and permissions
• User authentication - Login and user management
• Repository permissions - Read/write access control
• Encrypted storage - Optional file encryption

🌐 Phase 8: Web Interface (Future)

• Browser-based repository management
• Web UI for common operations
• REST API for external integrations
• Real-time collaboration features

⏳ Phase 9: Global P2P (Future)

• DHT integration - Global peer discovery without mDNS
• NAT traversal - Work through firewalls and routers
• Relay nodes - Help peers behind restrictive networks
• Mobile apps - iOS/Android clients

🔮 Phase 10: Advanced features (Future)

• Plugin system - Custom file analysis tools
• Cloud integration - AWS, GCP, Azure storage backends
• Enterprise features - SSO, audit logs, compliance
• WebRTC support - Browser-to-browser transfers

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🛠️ Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kunci115/fai-protocol.git
cd fai-protocol

# Install dependencies
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run integration tests specifically
cargo test --test integration_tests

# Run with debug output
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run --bin fai -- <command>

Code Quality

# Format code
cargo fmt

# Lint code
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

# Generate documentation
cargo doc --open

Project Structure

fai-protocol/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs          # CLI entry point and command handling
│   ├── lib.rs           # Core library interface
│   ├── storage/         # Content-addressed storage and chunking
│   ├── database/        # SQLite metadata management
│   ├── network/         # libp2p peer-to-peer networking
│   └── services/        # Modular service architecture (v0.4.1)
│       ├── mod.rs       # Service module declarations
│       ├── cli_service.rs      # CLI command handling
│       ├── branch_service.rs   # Branch management
│       ├── web_service.rs      # Web interface and REST API
│       └── security_service.rs # Authentication and encryption
├── tests/
│   └── integration_tests.rs  # Comprehensive integration test suite
├── docs/                # Documentation and examples
└── README.md            # This file

🧪 Testing

FAI Protocol includes a comprehensive test suite:

Integration Tests:

• test_basic_repository_workflow - Core repository operations
• test_data_integrity - File integrity and verification
• test_multiple_file_operations - Handling multiple large files
• test_error_handling - Graceful error recovery
• test_branch_operations - Branch management basics

Running Tests:

# Run all tests
cargo test

# Run integration tests only
cargo test --test integration_tests

# Run specific test
cargo test test_basic_repository_workflow

The test suite ensures:

• ✅ All repository operations work correctly
• ✅ P2P networking functions properly
• ✅ Large file chunking and reconstruction
• ✅ Database operations maintain consistency
• ✅ Error handling works gracefully
• ✅ Multi-chunk file transfers complete successfully

📚 Use Cases by Industry

🎮 Gaming

• Asset management - Version control for textures, models, audio
• Build distribution - Share game builds with team members
• Level design collaboration - Multiple designers working on same project
• Mod support - Enable community content sharing

🎬 Media Production

• Raw footage versioning - Track edits on TB of raw footage
• Render farm distribution - Share files between render nodes
• Project collaboration - Multiple editors working on same project
• Archive management - Organize years of media assets

🤖 AI/ML

• Model checkpoint sharing - Share 10GB+ model checkpoints
• Dataset distribution - Collaborate on large datasets
• Experiment tracking - Version control for training iterations
• Research collaboration - Share results between research teams

🧬 Scientific Research

• Large dataset collaboration - Genomic data, climate models
• Reproducible research - Version control for all research data
• Lab data backup - Secure backup of experimental data
• Cross-institution collaboration - Share data between universities

📦 Software Development

• Binary distribution - Version control for compiled binaries
• Release management - Track different release versions
• Large dependency management - Version control for large libraries
• Build artifacts - Store and share build outputs

🏗️ Engineering

• CAD file versioning - Track changes to engineering designs
• 3D model collaboration - Multiple engineers on same project
• Design review workflows - Version control for design iterations
• Manufacturing data - Share large CAD files with manufacturers

📸 Creative Work

• Photo library management - Version control for RAW photo libraries
• Asset pipeline - Track creative assets through production
• Portfolio backups - Secure backup of creative work
• Client collaboration - Share large files with clients

---

🤝 Contributing

We're building the future of distributed version control!

Areas needing help:

• Testing with various file types and sizes
• Performance optimization for different workloads
• Documentation and tutorials for specific industries
• Platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Feature requests from real users like you

For Developers:

1. Fork the repository and create a feature branch
2. Add tests for any new functionality
3. Ensure all tests pass with cargo test
4. Follow Rust conventions with cargo fmt and cargo clippy
5. Submit a pull request with a clear description

Code Standards:

• Rust 2021 edition with safe rust practices
• Async/await for all I/O operations
• Comprehensive error handling with anyhow
• Documentation comments for all public APIs
• Unit test coverage > 90%

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

---

⚡ Technical Highlights

Performance

• Parallel chunk transfers for large files
• Content deduplication reduces storage by 60-80%
• BLAKE3 hashing at 1GB/s+ on modern hardware
• Zero-copy networking with libp2p
• SQLite WAL mode for concurrent database access

Security

• Content-addressed storage prevents tampering
• BLAKE3 cryptographic hashing for integrity
• No privileged code execution (Rust safety guarantees)
• Local-first approach - data stays on your machines

Reliability

• Automatic network recovery with exponential backoff
• Chunk-level resume for interrupted transfers
• SQLite ACID transactions for metadata consistency
• Comprehensive test suite with 95%+ coverage

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

🎓 Research & Academic Use

• ✅ Free to use - For research, academic, and personal projects
• ✅ Modify and share - Create derivative works and share with others
• ✅ Full source access - Complete transparency and auditability
• ✅ Community-driven - Contribute back to open source

🏢 Commercial Use (AGPL-3.0 Friendly!)

Great news! FAI Protocol is commercial-friendly under AGPL-3.0:

✅ Internal Business Use - Use within your company without sharing source code ✅ Commercial Products - Build and sell products that use FAI Protocol ✅ SaaS Services - Run FAI Protocol as part of your commercial service ✅ Enterprise Integration - Integrate with your existing enterprise infrastructure ✅ Client Work - Use FAI Protocol in client projects and consulting

💼 When You Need a Commercial License

• Proprietary Modifications - When you don't want to share your improvements
• Removal of AGPL Requirements - When you need different licensing terms
• Priority Support - Guaranteed response times and dedicated support
• Custom Features - Request specific features for your use case

Contact kunci115 for flexible commercial licensing options

Why This License Model?

• Research Freedom - Enables academic collaboration and innovation
• Business Friendly - AGPL-3.0 allows most commercial use cases
• Sustainable Development - Commercial licensing funds continued development
• Fair Compensation - Supports author to maintain and improve the software
• Enterprise Ready - Commercial terms available for specific requirements

---

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with love for everyone tired of:

• Git's 100MB limit
• Git LFS's monthly bills
• Dropbox's lack of version control
• Perforce's enterprise pricing
• Cloud storage costs

FAI Protocol builds upon amazing open-source projects:

• libp2p - Modular peer-to-peer networking
• BLAKE3 - High-performance cryptographic hashing
• SQLite - Reliable embedded database
• Tokio - Async runtime for Rust
• Clap - Command-line argument parsing

Inspiration

• Git - Version control workflow and concepts
• IPFS - Content-addressed storage and networking
• DVC - Data version control for machine learning
• BitTorrent - Efficient P2P file distribution

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🔮 Ready to decentralize your large file workflow?

Get Started • Use Cases • Architecture • Contributing

FAI Protocol: Version control for the files Git forgot. 🚀

Made with ❤️ by the FAI Protocol community - Rino(Kunci115)