I am new to Gnutella but as I understand this is how it works: a Gnutella user connects to a few other users, who are connected to others and so on. Then, when a search takes place, the search goes through the network of users within your reach. My question is this: how does the first client know how to reach the other clients? Does it just randomly go through IP's? That would seem to take a long time. If I understood how the beginning connection worked, it would make a lot more sense.

Thanks.

Currently most clients connect to a host cache which gives them a list of clients to try. The hostcache address remains constant ( example: router.limewire.com ) so the client will always be able to find a hostcache. Some clients also use other methods such as web caches.

Like tshdos mentioned, there are "host caches" that hold the last, say 20, IP addresses that connected previously. Another option is a local host cache, which simply stores all (or some) IP addresses discovered while it was in session, and uses that for the next time (so to avoid using a central host cache). And obviously, it'll also work if someone just e-mails your an IP address, or on forums like this, usenet or perhaps even IM/IRC.

-- Mike