Data replication mechanisms in the peer‐to‐peer networks

Abstract

SummaryPeer‐to‐peer (P2P) network is a distributed network in which nodes with similar capabilities exchange information with each other. Due to the nature of the P2P network distribution, numerous network message transformation is required to exchange the data between nodes over the network, which may increase access latency. Because of the high amount of the stored data in the P2P networks, the replication of data is very important. A large amount of data is handled using data replication to increase data access, reduce access latency, and increase data availability. This issue has an important role in the P2P networks, but there is no complete and systematic research in this field. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive study of data replication mechanisms in the P2P networks. The 1027 papers have been identified and have been reduced to 213 main studies using the paper selection process. Moreover, in this paper, the major advances are reviewed in four main groups (structured, unstructured, super‐peer, and hybrid networks), and the new challenges are also highlighted. Moreover, the open issues and guidelines for future studies are presented.