F2F: Reliable Storage in Open Networks

A major hurdle to deploying a distributed storage infrastructure in peer-to-peer systems is storing data reliably using nodes that have little incentive to remain in the system. We argue that a node should choose its neighbors (the nodes with which it shares resources) based on existing social relationships instead of randomly. This approach provides incentives for nodes to cooperate and results in a more stable system which, in turn, reduces the cost of maintaining data. The cost of this approach is decreased flexibility and storage utilization. We describe our approach and sketch two applications for which this approach is viable: a cooperative backup system and a Usenet replacement.