Hi Chip, you gave a really good description of bit torrent. Better than what
I could have done.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean McMahon" <smcmahon@xxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 3:30 PM
Subject: Re: bit torrent programs
Excellent description! The bitorrant documentation website also has methods for
sharing files even with nat, multiple computers with one ip address seen by
others on the internet.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chip Orange" <Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 6:25 AM
Subject: RE: bit torrent programs
BitTorrent is a generic term for a peer-to-peer file transfer protocol. There is no single BitTorrent program, but a wide variety of BitTorrent clients for you to choose from, but all of them are compatible with one another.
As Chevel (sp?) says, the advantage is that a very popular download can be pushed out by a single source extremely fast due to the way it uses all the pcs which are receiving the download as repeaters for it. This keeps the owner of such downloads (such as MS distributing a new version of IE) from having to have huge server farms and tremendous internet capacity in order to meet the demand that is some times placed on them.
It's a wonderfully ellogant protocol, and as she also points out, it's instead usually used for illegal file sharing. I do think we'll use something like it for all downloads someday, although MS is developing their own incompatible version called Avalanch, so we may end up with that.
Anyway, to use it you go download one of the BitTorrent free clients (I use ABC, which stands for Yet Another BitTorrent Client), and you use it in conjunction with your browser.
You use your browser to go find a BitTorrent cataloging web site (called a tracker), and find a torrent file that you'd like to download. By clicking on it in your browser, it puts your BitTorrent client in touch with other BitTorrent clients which have this file at the moment, and the transfer begins to take place, as Chevel described, from multiple sources to you. The tracker web site does not have a copy of the entire download file, just a very small file called it's torrent file, which describes the file(s) to be downloaded. By clicking on the torrent file, it actually downloads to your BitTorrent client in a second or so, and gives your client all the info it needs to go get the download.
The polite thing to do is for you to leave your pc on, providing the torrent files you have to others. Some tracker sites require this, some don't.
There's a usenet news group named alt.bittorrent if you'd like to learn about all the tracker sites available, and you can even use google advanced search to search by file type, and specify the file type as torrent.
hth,
Chip
Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission
Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314
(Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)
_____
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gery Gaubert Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 10:13 PM To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: bit torrent programs
Please elaborate on bit torrent programs? I have heard about them but don't understand how to use them or even where to get them. Thanks!!
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