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BitTorrent Guide |
Quick jump:
Overview:
The websites listing the torrents are called indexing sites and have become
very popular. Their popularity has come at a cost however, with the MPAA and
law enforcement agencies shutting them down. There are no shortage of sites to
go to so long as you know which are currently being used, as they come and go
so quickly these days. The files that you get all come as a package called an
archive, and to receive them you must first get a .torrent file (don't worry,
that's what you went to these websites for). Once you have downloaded the
.torrent file, your BitTorrent client will kick in and connect to a managing
computer that then connects you to others who have the files.
BitTorrent is a P2P system that uses a central location to manage users'
downloads. The central location is a tracker that is connected to when you
download and launch a .torrent file. The tracker keeps track of all the people
who have the file (both partially and completely) and connects users to each
other for downloading and uploading.
The BitTorrent network is impressive mostly for the speed and reliability with
which you get files that have been recently released. As long as a .torrent
file has enough people sharing then you can be assured that it will start
quickly and maintain a good download speed. This is what makes browsing through
recently released .torrents so much fun. Whatever catches your eye can be yours
in no time. Most indexing sites have a system of listing the number of Seeders
and Leechers for a particular archive:
A seed(er) is a client on the BT network that has a complete copy of a
particular archive. For any archive to work, there must be at least one seed to
download from originally. Sometimes under certain circumstances, there may be
no one seeder but enough people with all the parts to make up the whole
archive, this is called a distributed copy. It is HIGHLY recommended that once
you have gotten an archive you leave the BT client running for at least the
amount of time that it took you to download the archive to help ensure that
others will also be able to get it. Share and Share alike!
A leech(er) is a client on the BT network that does not have a complete copy of
a particular archive yet. When any new client begins downloading an archive,
they are a leecher until they have finished downloading the entire archive and
then become a seeder. The name 'leecher' here is an unfortunate use that has
become too commonly used even though it is really not applicable to what the
meaning is. A leecher normally means someone who downloads without uploading
(takes but does not give.) But here, a leecher is part of the network and is
uploading as well, many times more KB than they download. But hey, it's worth
the new meaning once you appreciate the vast resources that BT brings to you.
To download something with BitTorrent, you must have a .torrent file. This file
contains in it a location that tells the BitTorrent client where to go to find
the tracker that manages the uploading and downloading of the archive. An
archive is a complete set for downloading which may include one file or many
files. The one .torrent file contains the archive information also. To download
on this network it is simply a matter of clicking on the .torrent file in your
web browser, then the BitTorrent client kicks in and asks where you'd like to
save the archive. That's it, from there you just sit back and watch the client
work it's magic.
A list of many popular BitTorrent clients can be found on
Slyck web site. That list is updated frequently. For windows users, we
recommand Bitlord.
©2007 Torrent View
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