Method and system for creating a peer-to-peer overlay network

A storage medium including program instructions executable by a processor to implement the method of:

• discovering a plurality of node characteristics for each node of a subset of said existing nodes;
• scaling each of said discovered plurality of node characteristics to a value which is within a predetermined range of values;
• generating a plurality of weighted values for each of said subset of existing nodes by applying a separate weighting function to each of said scaled values;
• generating a node rank value for each of said subset of existing nodes by summing said plurality of weighted values;
• determining which of said subset of said existing nodes are eligible nodes, wherein each of said eligible nodes have a node rank value that is greater than a dynamically programmable minimum node rank value;
• determining a maximum number of nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by generating a random number between zero and a dynamically programmable maximum number;
• determining to which nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by randomly selecting said maximum number of nodes from said eligible nodes;
• and
• establishing a connection to said selected nodes.

A computer system comprising:

• a plurality of nodes interconnected via a network, wherein each of said plurality of nodes includes:
• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to said processor, said memory including program instructions executable by the processor to:
• create from a subset of nodes of said plurality of nodes, a peer-to-peer overlay network having no centralized server
• discover a plurality of node characteristics for each node of a subset of said existing nodes;
• scale each of said discovered plurality of node characteristics to a value which is within a predetermined range of values;
• generate a plurality of weighted values for each of said subset of existing nodes by applying a separate weighting function to each of said scaled values;
• generate a node rank value for each of said subset of existing nodes by summing said plurality of weighted values;
• determine which of said subset of said existing nodes are eligible nodes, wherein each of said eligible nodes have a node rank value that is greater than a dynamically programmable minimum node rank value;
• determine a maximum number of nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by generating a random number between zero and a dynamically programmable maximum number;
• determine to which nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by randomly selecting said maximum number of nodes from said eligible nodes;
• and
• establish a connection to said selected nodes.

A computer system comprising:

• a plurality of nodes interconnected via a network, wherein each of said plurality of nodes includes:
• a processor;
• a memory coupled to said processor and configured to store instructions and data;
• and
• a network connection manager coupled to said processor and configured to create from a subset of nodes of said plurality of nodes, a peer-to-peer overlay network having no centralized server, wherein the network connection manager is further configured to:
• discover a plurality of node characteristics for each node of a subset of nodes of said plurality of nodes;
• scale each of said discovered plurality of node characteristics to a value which is within a predetermined range of values;
• generate a plurality of weighted values for each of said subset of nodes by applying a separate weighting function to each of said scaled values;
• generate a node rank value for each of said subset of nodes by summing said plurality of weighted values;
• determine which of said subset of said nodes are eligible nodes, wherein each of said eligible nodes have a node rank value that is greater than a dynamically programmable minimum node rank value;
• determine a maximum number of nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by generating a random number between zero and a dynamically programmable maximum number;
• determine to which nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by randomly selecting said maximum number of nodes from said eligible nodes;
• and
• establish a connection to said selected nodes.

A computer system comprising:

• means for discovering a plurality of node characteristics for each of a subset of nodes of a plurality of nodes of a network;
• means for scaling each of said discovered plurality of node characteristics to a value which is within a predetermined range of values;
• means for generating a plurality of weighted values for each of said subset of nodes by applying a separate weighting function to each of said scaled values;
• means for generating a node rank value for each of said subset of nodes by summing said plurality of weighted values;
• means for determining which of said subset of said existing nodes are eligible nodes, wherein each of said eligible nodes have a node rank value that is greater than a dynamically programmable minimum node rank value;
• means for determining a maximum number of nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by generating a random number between zero and a dynamically programmable maximum number;
• means for determining to which nodes of said eligible nodes to establish a connection by randomly selecting said maximum number of nodes from said eligible nodes;
• and
• means for establishing a connection to said selected nodes.