Torrents are essentially a protocol that helps users to share their data with others over the internet within no time.Torrent works under the influence of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing mechanism.
Torrents are one of internet elements where you are able to enjoy all sorts of content for absolutely no price tag and there are millions of users out there who take advantage of this service.
A torrent file normally comes with the extension .torrent but it does not contain the actual contents to be distributed. Each user in this network of downloaders is downloading a file and also sharing it with others by uploading a piece of it.
One of the common misconceptions is that a torrent is a software or a virtual private network. Both of these perceptions are wrong. As a user, you can upload, download, and share your data with your friends and colleagues. The data can comprise of anything; an ebook, a movie, a song, an application software, games, comics, etc.
Table of Contents
Torrents terminologies
- Peers: It is a generic term used for any client (user) that is involved in file sharing in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network.
- Swarms: A collection of peers that are sharing (downloading & uploading) the same torrent are called swarms.
- Tracker: Trackers are the servers that keep track of the seeds and leechers.
- Seeds: Seeds are people who have already downloaded the complete file and remain connected so that others can download from them.
- Leechers: Leechers are people who are still downloading the file. They are typically called peers because they remain logged in and share their files even after their own download finishes.
- Indexers: Web sites that compile torrents and provides information about torrents are called indexes. They also act as a forum where you can find, share, download, or request for torrent files.
Advantages of torrent
- Central servers (i.e. the website where you upload the torrent, and the tracker) don’t have to share a lot of data. Both torrent files and peer lists are very small in size, hence these servers don’t cost that much to set up and maintain.
- Difficult to block — since no central server is involved in the actual distribution and sharing of the files, it is difficult to block given its distributed nature.
Torrent clients For transferring Data from one system to another
Some Popular Torrent client is uTorrent, BitTorrent, and several others are a bridge that helps you get the files from other seeders and download them to either your mobile device or computer.
During this process, you do not have to move a single muscle as the torrent itself has all the necessary information where the bits and pieces of the ‘to be downloaded’ files are present on different computer systems.
Are Torrents Legal or Illegal
Torrents have a bad reputation due to piracy, but they aren’t illegal in themselves and have lots of legitimate uses, including downloading open-source software and material that’s in the public domain. It depends on what you are downloading.
While some sites offer only legitimate content whose copyright they hold or things that are in the public domain, many offer pirated movies, music, songs, and books, etc. You should check with the law of your land to see what you are downloading is legal.
The responsibility of downloading illegal files rests completely with you as the people who run websites hosting BitTorrents can easily getaway in the maze of computers by claiming innocence.
