Simple basic explanation of a Distributed Hash Table (DHT)

Question

Could any one give an explanation on how a DHT works?

Nothing too heavy, just the basics.

Answer 1

DHTs provide the same type of interface to the user as a normal hashtable (look up a value by key), but the data is distributed over an arbitrary number of connected nodes. Wikipedia has a good basic introduction that I would essentially be regurgitating if I write more -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_hash_table