| Torrent is a P2P network environment used for downloading and uploading large amounts of data. It is one of the most common protocols for transferring files.
A torrent refers to a torrent meta-data file or a few files described by it and contains metadata about all the downloadable files. Meta-data files are not stored on the torrent tracker site, but are disseminated among a few torrent host sites. Each torrent file guides to a trackers site, which centrally manages the PEER-TO-PEER transfer of files among users and memorizes all the downloaders and distributors of the certain file. One tracker site is able to monitor simultaneous downloads of several files. Following the link to the torrent meta-file, a user gets from the tracker site a list of peers currently transferring bits of the files, with whom direct connections to barter parts of the file can be established.
A file downloadable via Torrent is called a seed. A person who has at their disposal the entire file and uploads or ‘seeds' it is called a Seeder. The more seeders, the better.
A leecher is a person who downloads, or leeches, the file from other people. As new leechers connect to the network and request the same file, their PC receives a different portion of the data from the seeder. Once a few seeders have at their command multiple pieces of the seed, they become a source for that part of the file. So, the task spreads among the seeder and many peers, which easens the load of the initial user.
As soon as the file is downloaded by a given peer, the latter can shift roles and become an extra seed, helping the remaining peers to obtain the entire file.
The nature of Torrent allows to spread data very quickly. For a secure and quick download, pick the torrents with more seeders than leechers, and visit the comments section, if there is any. It will keep you from downloading low quality or infected files. It should be mentioned, however, that torrent servers are less prone to viruses than PEER-TO-PEER programs.
Make sure that you 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 host sites keep track of the quantity of data distributed and downloaded by every user, and a insufficient ratio can be penalised with a bad download speed. Furthermore, leaving the swarm after is a breach of the idea of cooperation, which is the essential principle of Torrent. |
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