Date: Nov. 8, 2000
Link: http://dss.clip2.com/gnutella.html
Source Author or Organization: Clip2.com, Inc.

In this report, the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) search solutions company Clip2.com describes the evolution and present condition of the Gnutella P2P file sharing network, based on substantial data it gathered over a five month period.

The report finds the network has neither smoothly scaled nor catastrophically collapsed since its average traffic exceeded its dial-up modem bandwidth capabilities in August 2000.

The network persists in a fragmented state comprised of numerous continuously evolving responsive segments, the largest of which typically contains hundreds of hosts. The present estimate of unique Gnutella users per day is somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000 a day.

The report also provides several illustrated data graphs broken down by: US host population, international host population, Internet Service Provider (ISP), query type (i.e., file or resource type requested by user), and domain.

Major conclusions are that the Gnutella P2P network is an international phenomenon led by the US, Germany, and Japan, substantial populations of hosts in .com and .net domains are on ISP second-level domains, and hosts are widely distributed among .edu domains. The report concludes with a thoughtful look at possible future growth directions.