A comprehensive peer-to-peer characterization model

A peer-to-peer (P2P) characterization model is proposed in this paper. The purposes of this model are (a) to describe through abstraction the behavior and capability of P2P computing independent of any specific application, and (b) to lead to a cost model of P2P computing. Our approach is based on abstracting the service driven nature of P2P computing separate and distinct from its implementation. This supports the first purpose. Next, we consider the integration of the two aspects. This supports the second purpose. A secondary contribution of our work is a cost model. The cost model is applied to indexing, discovery and resource utilization services. In addition, the characterization model and cost model are applied to a JXTA-based P2P application. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.