Isn’t a torrent just, like…directly sharing a file from your PC? What’s all this business about “seeding” and “leeching”?
In: 517
I believe the protocol was originally invented to distribute the Linux OS source code.
Basically, the source code is huge, and any time a new release comes out, everybody wants a copy and so the servers that have the copy are brought to their knees. Many entities volunteer the use of their own servers, so when a new Linux version comes out, it gets sent to all those servers first, and they all release together. The problem is that those volunteer entities hate having their own servers brought to their knees and often drop out, making the problem worse again.
Bittorrent was invented to combat this problem. Basically, everybody downloading the Linux source starts becoming both a server and a client.
The source (typically a single giant archive file) is broken into many manageable chunks and distributed among a few volunteer servers as above. Those are called seeders. One master server keeps track of everybody who has any of the chunks and which chunks they have. Initially, this list is only the seeders.
Every client contacts the master server to get the torrent data. Then, given a list of chunks and seeders, they pick one chunk and one seeder at random and ask for that chunk. They may do this simultaneously for two or three chunks at a time.
Once a client has a chunk, it informs the master server that it has it, and that client gets added to the list of sources for that chunk.
Fairly soon, all the clients join the pool, and the load on the original seeders is reduced as the clients start grabbing chunks from each other. Once a client has the complete set, it’s considered to be another seeder.
A leech is a client that doesn’t share the chunks it’s downloaded. It only downloads. This may be out of laziness, cheapness (don’t want to pay for bandwidth), paranoia (don’t want to be caught distributing pirated material), or because their ISP has set up a firewall that won’t let them do it. It’s considered anti-social to leech, and some pirate sites will ban you for doing it. But if your ISP has set up a firewall to prevent it, it might not be your fault.
All you need to get started is access to the original torrent file, which tells you where to find everything else you need. That torrent file will be published somewhere for you to find it. There’s also a protocol called “magnet” that makes it easier to find the torrent file.
—-
Now for a question of my own: How do “magnets” work?
Latest Answers