What is BitTorrent?
BitTorrent is a vehicle to transfer files of any size efficiently and quickly. It functions to break up files into small pieces and downloads the file by piece meal from numerous sources. Its efficiency can be measured by getting faster downloads utilizing minimal bandwidth. The name BitTorrent also may refer to describe the official BitTorrent client.
When using BitTorrent, you create, distribute and download files. To create and share a file through BitTorrent, you need to convert it into a “torrent” which is small file containing information on the file and about the computer coordinating the file distribution.
Other users or peers may find and open your torrent and begin to download the pieces. As the file download is in progress, those peers likewise share the pieces they download with more users who may also be downloading the same file. This sharing facilitates easier download of the file as more parts build up from multiple sources.
Since the file is broken up into piece meal sizes, only little bandwidth is utilized to perform the overall transfer. The moment downloading the file is finished, the client software continuously share the completed file turning into a “seed” and with other peers looking for it. The file is still downloadable even if the original poster stopped seeding it. It will go on seeding the file to evry interested user until you command it not to, by pausing or deleting it from your queue.
The BitTorrent software client is totally free along with the creation and download of torrents and sharing torrents with peers. Beware of solicitations charging fees to get you to use BitTorrent. The software can be freely accessed at http://www.bittorrent.com/.
At www.bittorrent.com, a huge array of digital fun can be accessed. There are also other communities, sites and search engines posting torrent files. You can search for torrents in any Internet search engine by typing in what you are searching for, then add “torrent”.
Bit Torrent Concepts
It is best to know the different terminology used in running BitTorrent so that you could keep up with the pace in peer to peer interaction. Here are a few terms with definitions to get you started:
Availability
Availability is the amount of current full copies of the file available for download by the client. A large amount of available files makes downloading easier and faster to complete. If this number is less than one (for instance, 0.65) then there is no available full copy of the file to download.
Block
A block is a piece or portion of a file. When a file is distributed through BitTorrent, it is broken up into smaller pieces, or blocks. Normally, the block is 250kb in size, but can vary in file size during distribution.
Client
Client is the BitTorrent software utilized to upload and download files.
Leecher or Leech
Leech or leecher refers to a peer who downloads but uploads very little, or none at all. This could be unintentional or may be due to firewall issues. The term leech can also refer to a peer that has not been seeding yet.
Peer
A single client of a group of clients who download the same file.
Re-seed
Re-seeding is putting up a new complete copy of a file when there are no more seeds available for download. This action allows clients with partial download to complete their download process and subsequently increase availability.
Scrape
Scraping is requesting information about the statistics of the torrent, sent to the tracker. For instance, how well those other users are sharing or who to share the file with.
Seed
Seed is a complete copy of the file available for download.
Seeder/seeding
Seeder is a peer that finishes downloading a file and making the file available to others by seeding.
Swarm
Swarm is a group of peers and seeds which share the same torrent.
Torrent
Torrent is the conversion of a group of files or a file being distributed through BitTorrent.
Torrent file
Torrent file describes what file is being distributed, where to look for its parts parts, and other information necessary for distributing the file.
Tracker
Tracker is a server keeping track of the seeds and peers in a swarm. A tracker helps in managing the file transfer process but does not have a copy of the file.
