This paper provides a comprehensive survey of peer-to-peer (P2P) content distribution technologies, focusing on their nonfunctional characteristics such as security, scalability, performance, fairness, and resource management. The authors propose a framework to analyze these technologies, examining how architectural design decisions affect these characteristics. The survey covers various P2P systems and infrastructure technologies, including distributed object location and routing mechanisms, content replication, caching, and migration, encryption, access control, authentication, anonymity, deniability, accountability, and reputation. The paper also discusses the convergence of P2P and grid computing, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses. The classification of P2P applications into communication and collaboration, distributed computation, and content distribution is detailed, with a focus on content distribution systems. The paper further explores the characteristics of unstructured and structured P2P networks, their advantages, and limitations, and presents methods to improve the scalability and performance of unstructured systems. Overall, the survey aims to provide a snapshot of the state of P2P content distribution technologies, offering insights into their design and potential improvements.This paper provides a comprehensive survey of peer-to-peer (P2P) content distribution technologies, focusing on their nonfunctional characteristics such as security, scalability, performance, fairness, and resource management. The authors propose a framework to analyze these technologies, examining how architectural design decisions affect these characteristics. The survey covers various P2P systems and infrastructure technologies, including distributed object location and routing mechanisms, content replication, caching, and migration, encryption, access control, authentication, anonymity, deniability, accountability, and reputation. The paper also discusses the convergence of P2P and grid computing, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses. The classification of P2P applications into communication and collaboration, distributed computation, and content distribution is detailed, with a focus on content distribution systems. The paper further explores the characteristics of unstructured and structured P2P networks, their advantages, and limitations, and presents methods to improve the scalability and performance of unstructured systems. Overall, the survey aims to provide a snapshot of the state of P2P content distribution technologies, offering insights into their design and potential improvements.