On the fundamental communication abstraction supplied by P2P overlay networks
Curt Cramer, Thomas T. Fuhrmann · European Transactions on Telecommunications · 2004
Abstract The disruptive advent of peer‐to‐peer (P2P) file sharing in 2000 attracted significant interest. P2P networks have matured from their initial form, unstructured overlays, to structured overlays like distributed hash tables (DHTs), which are considered state‐of‐the‐art. There are huge efforts to improve their performance. Various P2P applications like distributed storage and application‐layer multicast were proposed. However, little effort was spent to understand the communication abstraction P2P overlays supply. Only when it is understood, the reach of P2P ideas will significantly broaden. Furthermore, this clarification reveals novel approaches and highlights future directions. In this paper, we reconsider well‐known P2P overlays, linking them to insights from distributed systems research. We conclude that the main communication abstraction is that of a virtual address space or application‐specific naming. On this basis, P2P systems build a functional layer implementing, for example lookup, indirection and distributed processing. Our insights led us to identify interesting and unexplored points in the design space. Copyright © 2004 AEI.