| Torrent is a P2P data sharing protocol used for transferring many files. It is one of the most widely used network environments for files distribution.
A torrent means a torrent meta-data file or all files described by it and contains meta-data about all the downloadable files. Meta-data files aren't kept on the torrent trackers server, but are spread among a number of torrent trackers servers. Each torrent file leads to a trackers site, which centrally manages the PEER-TO-PEER transfer of data among users and keeps record of all the downloaders and distributors of the corresponding file. One host server is able to supervise simultaneous downloads of multiple files. Clicking on a link pointing to the torrent meta-file, a user obtains from the trackers server a list of some of the peers currently transferring pieces of the files, with whom for bartering chunks of the file.
A file downloadable via Torrent is a seed. A person who has at their disposal the fully downloaded file and uploads or seeds it back to the web is called a Seeder. The more seeders, the better.
A leecher is someone who downloads, or leeches, the file from other people. As new leechers join the network and request the same file, their computer obtains a different bit of the data from the seeder. As soon as a few peers have several pieces of the seed, a source for that part of the file. Thus, the task spreads among the seeder and many peers, which relieves the initial user.
As soon as the file is entirely downloaded by a given peer, the peer is able to become an additional seed, helping the remaining leechers to receive the entire file.
Due to the nature of Torrent, files can be downloaded very quickly. For a safe and quick download, choose the torrents with more seeders than leechers, and visit the comments section, if available. It will keep you from downloading low quality or infected data. It should be mentioned, however, that torrent trackers are less prone to viruses than P2P programs.
It is crucial to let your torrent-downloaded file seed so that you get a ratio of at least 1.0. This ratio means that you have seeded a file in exchange for the downloaded one. Some trackers count the quantity of data disseminated and downloaded by each user, and a poor ratio can be penalised with a low download speed. Moreover, leaving the swarm after violates the idea of cooperation, which is the integral principle of Torrent. |
