1. A method comprising: receiving file information corresponding to a file stored at a computer, wherein a choice of computer receiving the file information is based at least in part on a count of computers coupled to a requesting computer that the requesting computer is aware of; comparing the received file information to a file information database; checking whether the received file information matches any of the file information in the database; determining that two potentially identical files exist if the received file information matches any of the file information in the database; and forwarding the received file information to another computer for storage in a file information database at the other computer.