| Torrent is a peer-to-peer network environment used for transferring many files. It is one of the most common network environments for distribution of data.
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 tracker, but are distributed among several torrent trackers servers. Each torrent file guides to a trackers site, which centrally coordinates the P2P transfer of data among Internet users and keeps track of all the downloaders and distributors of the corresponding file. One tracker server can supervise concurrent downloads of several files. Clicking on a link pointing to the torrent meta-data file, a user gets from the host site a list of some of the peers presently transferring bits of the files, with whom direct connections to exchange chunks of the file can be established.
A file ready for downloading via Torrent is a seed. A person who has the entire file and uploads or ‘seeds' it is known as a Seeder. The more seeders, the better.
A leecher is an individual who downloads, or leeches, the file from other people. As new leechers connect to the network and request the same file, their computer obtains a different portion of the data from the seeder. Once several seeders have at their disposal several pieces of the seed, Torrent allows everybody to become a source for that share of the file. So, the task gets distributed among the seeder and many peers, which easens the load of the initial user.
As soon as the file is completely downloaded by a given peer, the latter is able to switch roles and become an additional seed, helping the remaining peers to obtain the entire file.
The nature of Torrent allows to spread files very quickly. For a safe and quick download, pick 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 servers are less prone to viruses than PEER-TO-PEER programs.
It is important 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 tracker sites keep track of the amount of data given and downloaded by each user, and a poor ratio can be penalized with a low download speed. Moreover, disconnecting right after is a violation of the idea of cooperation, which is the essential principle of Torrent. |
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