Editing Distributed hash table (section)

== Properties ==
DHTs characteristically emphasize the following properties:

* [[Decentralized computing|Autonomy and decentralization]]: The nodes collectively form the system without any central coordination.
* [[Fault tolerance]]: The system should be reliable (in some sense) even with nodes continuously joining, leaving, and failing.<ref>R Mokadem, A Hameurlain and AM Tjoa. [https://www.irit.fr/~Riad.Mokadem/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2020/12/Resource-discovery-service-while-minimizing-maintenance-overhead-in-hierarchical-DHT-systems-iiWas2010.pdf Resource discovery service while minimizing maintenance overhead in hierarchical DHT systems] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809224052/https://www.irit.fr/~Riad.Mokadem/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2020/12/Resource-discovery-service-while-minimizing-maintenance-overhead-in-hierarchical-DHT-systems-iiWas2010.pdf |date=2022-08-09 }}. Proc. iiWas, 2010</ref>
* [[scale (computing)|Scalability]]: The system should function efficiently even with thousands or millions of nodes.

A key technique used to achieve these goals is that any one node needs to coordinate with only a few other nodes in the system{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}most commonly, [[Big O notation|O]](log ''n'') of the ''n'' participants (see below){{px2}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}so that only a limited amount of work needs to be done for each change in membership.

Some DHT designs seek to be [[Secure communication|secure]] against malicious participants<ref>Guido Urdaneta, Guillaume Pierre and Maarten van Steen. [http://www.globule.org/publi/SDST_acmcs2009.html A Survey of DHT Security Techniques] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601193203/http://www.globule.org/publi/SDST_acmcs2009.html |date=2023-06-01 }}. ACM Computing Surveys 43(2), January 2011.</ref> and to allow participants to remain [[Anonymity|anonymous]], though this is less common than in many other peer-to-peer (especially [[file sharing]]) systems; see [[anonymous P2P]].