What is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is a protocol designed for transferring files. It is peer-to-peer in nature, as users connect to each other directly to send and receive portions of the file. However, there is a central server (called a tracker) which coordinates the action of all such peers. The tracker only manages connections, it does not have any knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed, and therefore a large number of users can be supported with relatively limited tracker bandwidth. The key philosophy of BitTorrent is that users should upload (transmit outbound) at the same time they are downloading (receiving inbound.) In this manner, network bandwidth is utilized as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better as the number of people interested in a certain file increases, in contrast to other file transfer protocols. ... more

BitTorrent is a popular method for downloading large files. Find out what BitTorrent does and how BitTorrent differs from peer-to-peer file sharing programs. ... more

BitTorrent is the global standard for delivering high-quality files over the Internet. With an installed base of over 160 million clients worldwide, BitTorrent technology has turned conventional distribution economics on its head. The more popular a large video, audio or software file, the faster and cheaper it can be transferred with BitTorrent. The result is a better digital entertainment experience for everyone. BitTorrent is a protocol (a set of rules and description of how to do things) allowing you to download files quickly by allowing people downloading the file to upload (distribute) parts of it at the same time. BitTorrent is often used for distribution of very large files, very popular files and files available for free, as it is a lot cheaper, faster and more efficient to distribute files using BitTorrent than a regular download. BitTorrent 6 is a client. A 'client' in this case is a computer program that follows the rules of a protocol. For example, HTTP (HyperText Transfer ... more

What it is Bittorrent is a cooperative distribution of content where each individual who is downloading (and those who have downloaded) the content use their upload capacity to give the content to others. Traditional distribution of content relied upon a single server providing the content. However, this creates a vicious circle where the distributor is punished as the content becomes more popular. The more people that download the content, the higher the bandwidth cost to the distributor. If the content becomes very popular and the server is flooded with requests for download, then the server crashes and no one receives the content. Thus, only those with special equipment and lots of money were able to adequately distribute content. Bittorrent allows individuals, and small enterprises, to distribute their content as effectively as traditional distribution, but at a small cost. In bittorrent the popularity of a content creates a virtuous circle where the more popular the content is, th ... more

Easy, step-by-step guide for those who have heard of KaZaA and other file-sharing programs, but are looking for a faster and safer way to download movies, music, TV shows, anime, and just about anything else you can think of. Many people are still unaware of what exactly BitTorrent is or what it does. BitTorrent is a P2P protocol, or method, that allows people to share data much more efficiently and at much greater transfer speeds than previous file-sharing software like KaZaA, Morpheus, and WinMX. These programs were Direct Connect types in that each person connected directly and solely to one other user in order to share files. The drawback of this is that the person receiving the data is limited by the upload connection speed of the person sending it. What BitTorrent does is remove this limitation by allowing a virtually unlimited number of people to connect to one another and share the same file at the same time. Instead of being limited by the upload speed of the other user one is ... more

BitTorrent is an open source peer-to-peer protocol for downloading files on the internet. Open source means the code is available for anyone to modify and redistribute at will. Consequently there are several free BitTorrent programs available to the public, each with differing features. The original source code was written by Bram Cohen. The idea behind BitTorrent is to allow massive distribution of popular files without penalizing the source by soaring bandwidth costs and possible crashes due to demand that exceeds the capability of the server. In this way, anyone who creates a popular program, music file or other product can make it available to the public regardless of assets, even if the file becomes highly popular. To understand how BitTorrent functions, first consider how normal downloading works. Personal computers connected to the Internet are known as clients while the websites visited reside on Internet servers. Servers "serve up information" to clients. If you surf to a site ... more

It is a protocol that runs over the internet, much like the World Wide Web. BitTorrent allows a website to offer a "seed" file for download. Each BitTorrent user who downloads that file then acts as a secondary host for it. That speeds subsequent downloads and splits the amount of bandwidth load between all users. BitTorrent's speed and efficient use of bandwidth have therefore made it popular among people who transfer large files, particularly movie pirates. The protocol is also gaining acceptance for legitimate uses — rock band Nine Inch Nails recently distributed part of its new album over BitTorrent for free, while the CBC did the same with its Next Great Prime Minister TV show. ... more

BitTorrent is a protocol designed for transferring files. It is peer-to-peer in nature, as users connect to each other directly to send and receive portions of the file. However, there is a central server (called a tracker) which coordinates the action of all such peers. The tracker only manages connections, it does not have any knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed, and therefore a large number of users can be supported with relatively limited tracker bandwidth. The key philosophy of BitTorrent is that users should upload (transmit outbound) at the same time they are downloading (receiving inbound.) In this manner, network bandwidth is utilized as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better as the number of people interested in a certain file increases, in contrast to other file transfer protocols. One analogy to describe this process might be to visualize a group of people sitting at a table. Each person at the table can both talk and listen to a ... more

BitTorrent unique peer-to-peer network specification written by Bram Cohen. It requires two key elements, a tracker and download application. The download application actually works as both the client and server for a specific fileset. The tracker works just as its name implies, it basically keeps track of important download application data and statistics. The tracker acts a reference point for each download sessions physical internet address, port, and file download progress. Without the tracker the download application has no way of finding peers from which to download data from. Clients which have a completed fileset are referred to as "Seeds" or "Seeders", they wait while other clients download from them. Clients who have no data or partial data downloaded are referred to as "Leechers", they download from "Seeds" or other "Leechers" who have a greater completion percentage. For more information visit the creator's website at: http://www.bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/. A great FAQ can ... more

A. BitTorrent helps a brutha out. You can all share resources like a bunch of communists and at the same time help us save a little bandwidth. We greatly encourage you to use this little gem. And no, it doesn’t have spyware. I promise. ... more