Peer-to-Peer computing has caught on in the last few years, thanks in part to the emergence of various file sharing programs. Although, peer-to-peer networking is not a new concept, interest has been rekindled in this field. This has lead to a plethora of ideas for solving the various issues with peer-to-peer networks and also to try and find out how to effectively utilize this infrastructure. This survey investigates the field of peer-to-peer networking and summarizes the key concepts and ideas. An overview is provided for many of the new technologies and projects in this area. This paper will be helpful in making people understand this growing technology. This paper is targeted to both the novice reader who is not very familiar with the topic (this will help him/her understand the basic concepts and get familiar with peer-to-peer networking) and also for the reader who is well versed in this topic (the different models are described in sufficient detail, thus helping the reader grasp the breadth of ideas).