What Is Bittorrent?

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing protocol that allows for large amounts of data to be distributed quickly and easily. It is a faster and more efficient method to distributing large files than a regular download.By using a BitTorrent Client, you canshare and download any kind of file. Some common files shared are music, movies, games, software etc.In order to download a file you must search for it at a BitTorrent Indexing Site.

These sites allow you to download a .torrent file which opens in your Bittorrent Client and begins the download. You can tell which files are more popular by looking at the Seeders and Leechers for that file.

Some terminology to help you:

Seeder - Person(s) with a completed file A seeder has a complete file and is uploading it. To downlaod a file you need at least 1 seeder in the swarm. The more seeders, the better.

Leecher - Person(s) without the completed file (also known as a peer) A leecher is in the process of downloading from a seeder, their download is not yet finished. Leechers are also uploading what data they have downloaded to other leechers/peers

Tracker - Keeps track of who has what files and what pieces of that file. There are many trackers out there, some public and some private

Swarm - A group of computers involved with any one particular torrent. The number of computers in a swarm can be found by adding the amount of seeds and peers together.

Ratio - How much you have downloaded compared to the how much you have uploaded. It is recommended to upload/seed as much as you download/leech any particular torrent.

Reseed - If a torrent has no seeders, it can be reposted and seeded to allow others to download it again.

Client - A client is used to open a .torrent file and begin your download. See our list of BitTorrent Clients.

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