Distributed Hash Tables

How Moonlight Clients are able to discover Sunshine Hosts

Node Discovery and Routing:

The central function of DHTs in the Shaga system is to facilitate node discovery and routing. When a Shaga-Moonlight client wants to find a suitable Shaga-Sunshine host, it queries the DHT with the host's identifier (which could be the host's Solana public key address). The DHT returns the network address of the host, allowing the client to establish a connection.

Decentralization:

DHTs are a key component of the decentralization of the Shaga system. Each node in the DHT network stores a small portion of the hash table, distributing the responsibility of maintaining the network among all participating nodes. This ensures that no single node is a central point of failure.

Load Balancing:

DHTs inherently provide load balancing. Because each node is responsible for only a small portion of the hash table, the load is evenly distributed among all nodes. This helps maintain the performance and reliability of the Shaga system.

Scalability:

DHTs are highly scalable. As more Shaga-Sunshine hosts join the network, the hash table simply grows in size, without significantly increasing the load on any individual node. This allows the Shaga system to support a large number of hosts and clients.

Data Persistence:

By replicating data across multiple nodes, DHTs ensure data availability even if some nodes leave the network. This is critical for maintaining a robust and reliable network.

Network Resilience:

DHTs help to enhance the resilience of the Shaga system. In a P2P network like Shaga, nodes (Shaga-Sunshine Hosts) can join and leave at any time. DHTs can handle such churn efficiently, ensuring that the system continues to function smoothly even in the face of frequent node arrivals and departures.