Self-configuration protocols for P2P networks

This paper proposes and evaluates different protocols for individual peers to self-configure the P2P overlay networks in various network environments. For smallscale homogeneous networks, an optimizer peer selection protocol is proposed and found to be superior to other peer selection protocols, including random, egoist, altruist and greedy protocols, in terms of network diameter and node eccentricity. For large-scale heterogeneous P2P systems, peer-power based peer selection protocols are proposed to self-configure semi-structured overlay networks for heterogeneous P2P systems. An index-based query mechanism is also proposed for peers to search documents in the P2P network. Performance studies demonstrate that the proposed self-configuration protocols and search scheme are efficient and viable, and the self-configured P2P network has a significantly lower query cost than traditional Gnutella-like P2P systems. In addition, a caching-assisted query mechanism is proposed to exploit the surplus storage power of the peers, improving further the query efficiency. Caching-assisted query permits a quicker response to subsequent queries for popular data without incurring the excessive overhead of globally replicated directory information.