2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/31963In this paper, we model the cost incurred by each peer participating in a peer-to-peer network. Such a cost model allows to gauge potential disincentives for peers to collaborate, and provides a measure of the ``total cost'' of a network, which is a possible benchmark to distinguish between proposals. We characterize the cost imposed on a node as a function of the experienced load and the node connectivity, and show how our model applies to a few proposed routing geometries for distributed hash tables (DHTs). We further outline a number of open questions this research has raised.17 pages, 4 figures. Short version to be published in the Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS'04). San Diego, CA. February 2004Networking and Internet ArchitectureC.2.4text