BitTorrentJoin the swarm!

BY: Joe Petruska

What is BitTorrent?

a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data

Who? What? Where? When?

- Invented By Bram Cohen

-  Released July 2001

    

It is now maintained by Cohen's company, BitTorrent Inc.

What is BitTorrent used for?

Content Distribution- Music (new artists, bands, etc..)- Movies (independent film makers, public service, etc..)- Podcasting

Commercial Use- Game Patching Systems (World Of Warcraft)- Programs (Linux, BEoS, etc...)

How BitTorrent works.

Seeds:    - Host Files    - Distribute to peers    - Determine the speed       of the download

 The more seeds a torrent has the faster the transfer

generally will be.

How BitTorrent works.             

Peers:    - Download Files    - Distribute to peers

  

The more peers a torrent has the more availability the torrent will have as a whole. 

How BitTorrent works.             

Trackers:    - Delegate transfer speeds    - Keep Tabs on transfers    - Block Banned users    - Block peers from abuse    - Verify content availability.

  

The tracker is the back-end server required for a BitTorrent transfer.

How BitTorrent works.             

DHT:    - Distributed Hash Server    - No back-end Tracker    - Blocked by private      and secure trackers    - Less taxing on servers    - Increased peer security.    

 A DHT tracking system does not require a Tracker.  This leaves it in the hands of the peers, and no real way check swarm life. or delegate who gets what.

Problems with BitTorrent.       

Leechers:    - Steal bandwidth from seeds    - Do not contribute to the swarm    - Ultimately kill torrent life

 Torrents are only as healthy as their availability. 

A leech kills the life span and speedby not sharing with other peers.

Problems with BitTorrent.       

Copyright:    - Many things not legally distributed    - Movie and Music industries very mad    - Unsuspecting users targeted       for lawsuits.

     

With the growing popularity of BitTorrentthe Music and Film industries of America (RIAA / MPAA) have targeted unsuspecting downloaders and hit them

with fines and lawsuits.

BitTorrent Clients.

Clients:    - BitTorrent    - uTorrent    - Azureus    - BitTyrant    - Transmission    - Limewire

 There are clients for Mac, Windows, and Unix

Most are Free and Open Source.

Tech Specs.

Downloading:

    - Segments    - "Rarest first" scheme    - "flash crowd" resistant    - More overload and abuse proof then      other file distribution methods. (FTP, HTTP)

Since each peer receives a small amount of the "rarest data" it can then distribute it to another peer.  The lack

of a central server makes it ideal for large file distribution.  Also, the load required by the server is

greatly reduced.