Patent ID: 7401152

Claim:
A peer computing system, comprising: a plurality of peer nodes operable to couple to a network; wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment on the network according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising: a core layer comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the plurality of peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, and cooperate with each other to form peer groups and share content in the peer-to-peer environment; a service layer comprising one or more services each provided by one or more of the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein at least a subset of the services are operable to be used by the plurality of peer nodes in forming the peer groups and participating in the peer groups, and wherein each of the one or more services are configured to be accessed by the plurality of peer nodes in accordance with at least one of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols; and a unique peer identifier, wherein the peer identifier is configured for use in distinguishing a particular peer node from others of the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein the peer identifier is independent of a network address of the particular peer node; wherein each of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to access another of the plurality of peer nodes on the network using the unique peer identifier of the other peer node, wherein the peer node does not use a network address of the other peer node to access the other peer node.