What is BitTorent Networking?

the purpose of this post is to give readers a simple understanding of how bitTorent downloading works.

  

BitTorrent networking is a proper representation of the file sharing concept and has become extremely popular among internet users over the years. It is based on peer to peer (p2p) networking. For heavy downloaders like myself, this is the ultimate tool to have stable downloads that you can actually control, not just monitor.

Peer to peer networks are networks where the nodes (called peers in this case) supply and consume resources to/from one another.

How it works

Using bitTorent for downloads is a two-way process; anytime you're downloading a file using  a torrent client, you are actually receiving bits of that same file from different people who have already downloaded it. A peer is a downloader who has not completed a download. When the download is 100% complete, that person (peer) becomes a seed. Seeding simply means uploading parts of your complete downloads for other peers to download. This is why i earlier said BitTorent networking embodies the file sharing concept. The term leech means two things; 

1. A downloader (one who hasn't completed a download).

2. A peer who drastically reduces their upload speed, or turns off their internet to prevent seeding when their download is done.

To download files using bitTorent networking, you need:

a. A bitTorent client

A bitTorent client is a program that enables you to download files using the bitTorent protocol. There are a lot of clients available for download (eg, mediaGet, utorrent, Vuze, BitTorent, qbitTorent).Any tweaks or tips i post will however be based on either Vuze or utorrent, or both, since they are the most popular clients.

b. A torrent file

This is basically a file that gives the client information about a particular file to download. You can find a torrent file for almost anything you want to download on file sharing websites and torrent search engines such as torrentz, isohunt, kickass torrents.

Will do a follow-up post to how to download files using a bitTorrent client.