Bit Torrent - Legal p2p Downloads
Recently (1 month ago) I downloaded bittorrent. Straight away I was impressed. The whole idea of it was superb and it was extremely simple (well to the end user anyway, probably not for the programmer).
The idea
The idea behind bittorent is that people and companies who have to distribute large files to lots of users can do so via a solution which needs the same amount of resources for small or large scale distribution. Say for example you want to download OpenOffice. One way is to download directly from the server, or alternatively you could download a torrent. This means you will download the file from other people who are downloading it. It's like a sharing game. I have parts 1, 2 and 3, while someone else has parts 4 and 5. We then share our parts and have complete files.
But is it fast?
Using bittorrent unfortunately is slightly more complex than just downloading a normal file. To obtain high speeds you need to also have a high sending of data rate. This means you need to open outbound ports on your firewall to speed things up a bit. A full tutorial on how to maximise downloading is available at their website.
So far I have had only success. Downloading OpenOffice was at over 200kb/s and I think the slowest speed I have ever had was still in excess of 50kb/s. In comparison, downloading from an Australian Mirror ftp site (I live in HK, hence other mirrors would have been slower), the maximum speed I obtianed was between 60 - 70 kb/s.
How can I get it?
Downloading bittorrent is as easy as going to their web site and downloading the software. Installing takes less than 30 seconds and downloading your first files is as simple as finding a website which has bittorrent downloads, and clicking the link.
My final opinion
Bit torrent is excellent. Its no replacement for a p2p program such as Kazaa, Ares Galaxy or Bear share if you want to download music or movies, but for legitimate internet activities like downloading large linux distributions or programs it works like a charm. 4 out of 5 stars!
posted by James Smith @ 8:54 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hey. I disagree with ur point of view. Bittorent is actually used mostly by people to download PRIVATED stuff ie programs and songs. I won't be happy if all my efforst in creating a program was stolen in a flash after all the hardwork! DO NOT SUPPORT bittorent to use it to dld fake stuff. It's bad!!
Hey, well sorry. I didnt mean to use it for illegal or not nice actities. I meant it is probably the first p2p program i have seen that has real legitimate uses. The only others i have seen are for downloading songs and music. This can download real, proprietary software at high speeds!
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