A BitTorrent FAQ Guide
BitTorrent is a p2p system that distributes downloads among PEERS. so that When you are downloading, you are simultaneously uploading the same file to other users. This prevents leeching, that is downloading but not uploading in return. A group of PEERS are called a SWARM. Any person in the Swarm who has a copy of the whole download is called a SEED. A swarm does not need a seed if between them all the peers hold a full copy of the wanted file(s).
The actual process of file transferring is decentralized. The Fundamental idea of BitTorrent is that users upload at the same time they are downloading. By doing so network bandwidth is used in an efficient manner.
Most internet connections allow you to download a lot faster than you can upload. Often 10 times faster unless you are lucky and have a T1 connection. A typical broadband speed from a Cable Modem would be download speed of 10mbps or 1 Mega BYTE per second and an upload of just 0.6mbps or 580 Kilo Bytes per second. DSL (Phone line) can be a lot slower or faster depending on the line quality and how close you are to a digital exchange. Some providers are now offering 50mbps or 5 Mega Bytes download speeds but again the upload is only a tenth of that. Check out virtual PC services such as http://www.zazeen.com in Canada for 50mbps T1 connections if you really want your torrent swarms to FLY!!!!!!!!!!
BitTorrent is designed to work better as the demand to download a specific file increases. Which is in direct contrast to Limewire, WinMX and other p2p programs 1 peer at a time queue concept. The more that try to download a bittorrent at the same time the better. Large swarms give you more choices of downloading the wanted parts of the whole file(s).
Unlike most other p2p models there is no search function for BitTorrent, having said that some clients do have a search function now (latest versions of Vuze/Azureus for example have both torrent and swarm search built in). To Download a file using a bittorrent client such as µTorrent or Bit Comet you must find .torrent files from a variety of sources. These sources include websites, irc and even emailing torrent files from one person to another.
Note many bit torrent sites now report torrents as having no seeds or peers - that is 'being dead' as there software is not taking into acount trackerless torrents, this will come with time. If you see what looks like a 'dead' torrent on any site, click on it and nine times out of ten after a few min you will find seeds and peers via DHT and or PEX.
There are no longer central tracking sites, those still in existence, private or semi private sites like Demonoid will soon be forced by various copyright lawers to stop keeping torrents on the server. Distributed Hash Tracking or DHT, PEX or Peer Exchange makes every seed a tracker, and every peer a tracker. Your client must support DHT/PEX and you must have the tracker server option turned on and configured to your IP address and an open port. If you use a router it must be told the ports you want open or Upnp (Auto port forwarding) must be turned on, both on your router and your bit torrent client.
With no central web based server to close down, get overloaded and messed about with by the anti file share people DHT and PEX is the future and you should spend the time and effort required to learn all about it now. The Pirate Bay for example dropped support for the traditional tracker in November of 2009. Since then many more indexing and search sites have followed into this new trackerless eara.
BitTorrent is best understood by analogy. Visualize a group of people (BitTorrent users) sitting around a table (YOUR Tracker or Distributed Hash Tracking DHT or PEX Peer Exchange). Each person at the table can both talk and listen to any other person at the table. These people are each trying to get a complete copy of a 10 page book.
Person 1 has pages 1-2
Person 2 has 3 & 4
Person 3 has pages 5 & 6
Person 4 has 7 and 8
Person 5 is OFFLINE but has pages 9 and 10.
No single person has the whole file, but when the whole swarm are on line together they do.
Between them, they have every page except pages 9 and 10. So each user could continue to complete (Download) the book from each other, each one getting a page from the other, in exchange for a page they do not have. Until a time that person 5 shows up who has the missing last two pages 9 & 10, or even a person who has the entire book. In which the other users would each gather pages that were missing from the whole to distribute among themselves until every copy was complete.
A user who has the entire "book" would be called a seed. A person with the entire file (seed) is required for the process to begin, but it is possible to have a distributed copy without having any single user possessing a complete copy as other users continue to share their partial long after there are no seeds in a swarm. In our example there could be more people sitting round the table, some of which have only one page, but it may be pages 9 or 10.
It is always good to have a complete copy, but it is not vital. WHAT IS VITAL is you have enough upload bandwidth left over to listen out for the swarm requests. Your upload bandwith is typically only one tenth that of your download ability. DONT max it out. Always leave at least 20% free so your bit torrent client can hear others in the swarm and reply to them in a timely manner.
IF DOWNLOADING STOP ALL OTHER TORRENTS DEAD. DON'T QUEUE THEM. If the download seed(s) are pathetic and very slow and the swarm is not uploading from you then you may seed ONE torrent with care, but that is about it. NEVER throttle back your seeding to the swarm.
99% of the people who download from me have poor speeds due to running too many torrents at the same time and/or maxing out there upload speed. It really is that simple.
When only seeding, knock yourself out, seed as many torrents as you wish and you can even use 99% of your available upload bandwidth as you require less if you are only seeding. BUT START A DOWNLOAD - THEN LOOSE your seeding torrents, and remember to STOP them or you will run into problems with your download speeds. With care you can seed one torrent while downloading if your download swarm is slow. You must however leave 20% of your upload bandwidth for the download swarm to use. Never let a seeding torrent max it out while you download.
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