Survival of the "Bit"test

Working of torrents explained

Unlike HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) downloads, the torrent files are downloaded by a peer-to-peer file sharing network. You may came across the terms like leecher, seed, peer, tracker etcetera while dealing with torrents... You may wonder what the hell these terms mean[I did!!!]. There are many web resources explaining this in detail but not all of them are convenient for the master inside your cranium to understand...here I prepared my best to explain each term concerning torrents and how they work. Let us start.... (Assuming you know basic surfing stuff)

Our conventional downloads are by HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Here there will be a central server from which a connection is established through a series of routers and switches by any shortest path algorithm. For example consider that you are downloading Google earth, your browser sends request to Google server located in the USA. The Google server responds by setting up connection to your computer and sends the file to your computer through the wireless and wired connection through routers and switches as said above...

Now let us tear into torrents to examine them...

First of all let us see what is peer-to-peer sharing... the method used to download torrent files. Peer-to-peer sharing connects your computer into a network of computers that are connected together and have the file (that you want) completely or a part of it. Now you become one of the computers in that network and can receive file from the computers in that network and other computers connecting to that network can also receive file from you if you have downloaded the file or a part of the file. Here I illustrate how peer-to-peer network looks like....

Now don’t confuse with the connections, but imagine how it is connected.... each and every computer is connected with every computer on the network that contains that file. Here each box represents a computer like yours. In this network each computer is called a peer, hence the name peer-to-peer.

Torrents use this kind of sharing technique to download files.. But how do they implement it... How do you get connected... Who connects and disconnects you from the network... read on...

When you download a torrent file from a torrent search engine or torrent server such as the pirate bay or isohunt, the torrent file(Remember!!!! A torrent file is different from the actual file you want to download. A torrent file is like the index of the actual file you want) is loaded in your torrent downloader program such as utorrent or bitlord. This torrent downloader sends request to the parent server from where the torrent is downloaded... for instance take the pirate bay. Now here thepiratebay server is called the TRACKER. This tracker does the job of finding the network of computers having the file completely or partly... and joins you into that network. The computer having the complete copy of the file you want is called a SEED. The other computers having parts of the file are called PEERS. The computer that disconnects from the network after downloading the file is called a LEECHER. The more the seeds, the faster the download of the file will be. Here the tracker(here thepiratebay.org) does a wonderful job of monitoring the peer-to-peer networks... There will be many such networks on the internet that are monitored by the tracker. The tracker keeps record of the computers on the network and works on the principle of tit for tat!!!!!. That is if you always download a file and never seed... i.e. you are a leecher, or you disconnect from the network after downloading the file and never make let other users to download it from you... the tracker reduces the speed of your download next time you download a file from the tracker.. The more you seed, the faster the downloads will be...

Hope this helps... There are many tweaks in the internet for speeding utorrent... but for me none of them worked... believe me... if you set your upload rate to 10kbps and seed some 4 to 5 files, you can easily get a download speed of 200kbps... for a basic broadband connection.

Here are some nice trackers...

isohunt.com

thepiratebay.org

lokitorrent.net

torrentreactor.com

kickasstorrents.com

btjunkie.com

Happy torrent downloads..........