Topology, search, and fault tolerance in unstructured P2P networks

While P2P networks are currently being used mainly for sharing and swapping of music and video media files, many commercial applications of P2P networks for content provision and digital goods distribution are envisioned. However, such commercial use of P2P networks for content provision requires a high level of accessibility of resources. Failures in individual nodes can have a drastic affect on accessibility. This paper examines the impact of node failure on the accessibility of resources on P2P networks. Using an agent-based model of P2P networks, we investigate how network topology, search effort and resource redundancy affect accessibility under varying levels of node failure.