We propose a self-stabilizing and modeless peer-to-peer (P2P) network construction and maintenance protocol, called the Ring Network (RN) protocol. The RN protocol. when started on a network of peers that are in an arbitrary state, will cause the network to converge to a structured P2P system with a directed ring topology, where peers are ordered according to their ideniifers. Furthermore, the RN protocol maintains the structure in the face of peer joins and departures.

The RN protocol is a distributed and asynchronous message-passing protocol, which fits well the autonomous behavior of peers in a P2P system. The RN protocol requires only the existence of a bootstrapping system which is weakly connected. Peers do not need to be informed of any global network state, nor do they need to assist in repairing the network topology when they leave. We provide a proof of the self-stabilizing nature of the protocol, and experimentally measure the average cost (in time and number of messages) to achieve convergence.