Patent ID: 8909747

Claim:
An apparatus for use by a node in a peer-to-peer (P2P) system, comprising: a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to: initiate a request for the node to join a first P2P network of the P2P system, the first P2P network comprising a plurality of peer nodes; initiate a request for the node to join a second P2P network of the P2P system, the second P2P network comprising a subset of the peer nodes of the first P2P network; maintain a first set of configuration information configured for interaction by the node with the peer nodes of the first P2P network and a second set of configuration information configured for interaction by the node with the peer nodes of the second P2P network; initiate a first file lookup within the second P2P network using the second set of configuration information, the first file lookup indicative of a request by the node to identify one of the peer nodes of the second P2P network that is storing a file; and initiate a second file lookup within the first P2P network using the first set of configuration information based on a determination that the first file lookup fails, the second file lookup indicative of a request by the node to identify one of the peer nodes of the first P2P network that is storing the file.