Model-based evaluation of search strategies in peer-to-peer networks

This paper exploits a previously developed analytical modeling framework to compare several variations of the basic flooding search strategy in unstructured decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. The model predictions are used to compute system-oriented performance indexes (the average and the coefficient of variation of the number of query messages) as well as user-oriented measures (the probability of finding at least one replica of a resource, the average search time). The trade-off between the optimization of system-oriented measures and the improvement of user-oriented quality indexes is investigated for several variations of the basic flooding strategy suggesting that adding control parameters to the basic flooding mechanism might prove beneficial in this class of systems.