Patent ID: 8880698

Claim:
A peer-to-peer network of computers, which are interconnected so as to allow sharing of content data, comprising: a plurality of computers configured to pass through the network messages that originate from respective requesting computers; respective computers in the network are configured to store in a memory content files of content data in a file structure comprising a plurality of content folders, each content folder containing any number of content files, wherein: at least one of the content folders contains a plurality of content files having related content data, and each content folder that contains at least one content file, including the at least one of the content folders that contains a plurality of content files, further contains a corresponding description file, wherein: the corresponding description file is a separate file from the at least one content file and from the plurality of content files, the corresponding description file contains descriptive information describing the plurality of content files that are stored in the same content folder as the corresponding description file, in the case of the content folder that contains the plurality of content files, and the corresponding description file contains descriptive information describing the at least one content file that is stored in the same content folder as the corresponding description file, in the case of the content folder that contains the at least one content file; the respective requesting computers are configured to transmit a search query message that specifies search criteria for passage through the network; and the respective computers configured to store content files are further configured to, after receipt of the search query message that specifies search criteria, compare the search criteria with the descriptive information contained in the corresponding description file in each content folder that contains at least one content file, including the at least one of the content folders that contains a plurality of content files, and in an the event of there being a matching content folder, to transmit a hit message identifying the matching content folder for passage back through the network to the respective requesting computer, wherein the corresponding description file further contains identification information and the hit message identifies the matching content folder by including the identification information of the description file that contains the descriptive information matching the search criteria, and wherein the identification information contained in the corresponding description file is unique within the peer-to-peer network.