Overview and Challenges of Overlay Networks: A Survey

Nowadays, a very useful platform is becoming widely used to deploy new services and applications in theInternet: the overlay networks. These networks create a virtual topology on top of existing ones with thepurpose of providing several different services such as file sharing or content delivery. This surveyfocuses on diverse research issues concerning overlay networks applicability and management strategiesrequired for emergent network environments. In this way, mobility, security, scalability, dependabilityand resource constraints are studied with regard to overlay networks. We finally discuss the evolution ofthese networks in order to satisfy new technological improvements.