Towards Efficient and Scalable Searches for Mass-Market, Decentralized File-Sharing Applications

Unstructured Peer-to-Peer networks support uncoupled data placements, elaborate semantic queries and highly dynamic scenario. These properties make such systems extraordinary suitable for applications of mass-market decentralized file sharing, which is still the most dominant application currently in use on current P2P-powered systems. In this paper, we propose SSplus, a novel search algorithm extended from our previously developed Smart Search algorithm, focusing on improving the search efficiency and the network utilization in unstructured P2P file-sharing systems. We achieve these goals by introducing several novel techniques below as enhancements: (a) Load Balancing based on Free Availability, (b) Intelligent 2-Level Replication, and (c) Resources Booking and Reservation. Extensive simulations under realistic conditions substantiate significant performance gains of SSplus, compared with the original Smart Search algorithm.