I have Bittorrent (well, a type of it) to download stuff from this site but tell me, what are some advantages of it? Does it just allow for people to leech off of other open windows?
just curious.
Bittorrent uses?
Moderator: FuguTabetai
The main appeal of bit torrent is that it distributes the load.
For example, if Fugu wants to put up a new chapter, and it is 9.5 megabytes in size, and 1,250 people want it, and all of them want to get it within the first day of its release (24 hours), Fugu would have to serve that one file at 64mbps continuously. Even if his uplink can make that kind of bandwidth available to him, it would either cost him an arm and a leg (that's two t3's worth of bandwidth) or he'd have his company or university's IT staff so far up his butt he'd bleed.
So that's not going to happen. How can Fugu automatically prioritize who gets the file first? Bittorrent allows a mechnism by which those who contribute the most get the most. So if I connect to the torrent and am uploading at 500kbps (a whopping 1/128th of what would be needed to accomplish that desired 64mbps), I'll get the download faster than somebody on a 42kbps dialup connection. This is because any parts I receive will immediately get redistributed at 500kbps to the rest of the torrent (including, in a trickle, that 43kbps dialup guy). Similarly, sombody on a university link uploading at 1mbps will get the files even faster than me, and will immediately serve out parts that he gets to folks like me with my 500kbps connection.
So... if folks are polite and leave their BT clients on overnight or longer, the more folks that download the file, the more bandwidth is available to serve that file, and Fugu's server doesn't get raped.
The advantage for you of using BT to get the file is that you can get the file and don't have to slog on down to Kinokuniya and translate it yourself after shelling out $9-$11 for it.
For example, if Fugu wants to put up a new chapter, and it is 9.5 megabytes in size, and 1,250 people want it, and all of them want to get it within the first day of its release (24 hours), Fugu would have to serve that one file at 64mbps continuously. Even if his uplink can make that kind of bandwidth available to him, it would either cost him an arm and a leg (that's two t3's worth of bandwidth) or he'd have his company or university's IT staff so far up his butt he'd bleed.
So that's not going to happen. How can Fugu automatically prioritize who gets the file first? Bittorrent allows a mechnism by which those who contribute the most get the most. So if I connect to the torrent and am uploading at 500kbps (a whopping 1/128th of what would be needed to accomplish that desired 64mbps), I'll get the download faster than somebody on a 42kbps dialup connection. This is because any parts I receive will immediately get redistributed at 500kbps to the rest of the torrent (including, in a trickle, that 43kbps dialup guy). Similarly, sombody on a university link uploading at 1mbps will get the files even faster than me, and will immediately serve out parts that he gets to folks like me with my 500kbps connection.
So... if folks are polite and leave their BT clients on overnight or longer, the more folks that download the file, the more bandwidth is available to serve that file, and Fugu's server doesn't get raped.
The advantage for you of using BT to get the file is that you can get the file and don't have to slog on down to Kinokuniya and translate it yourself after shelling out $9-$11 for it.
Burrowowl outlined the main advantage : load distribution
However, there are also perks - 99% of the time when you're downloading something, you're also uploading stuff for everyone else. As long as someone has more of the d/l, or the complete file, you can d/l it. This eliminated file queues. This is main difference between other P2P programs like Kazaa, WinMX or Emule (where they depend on someone who has the file who has the capability to share who isn't sharing at that time - BT doesn't have "queues" like those programs). Also, since you can search for torrents on a website, you can usually be sure of what you are getting, and makes things much easier (little need to implement search functions in the actual program, just use your internet browser).
Disadvantages - well, as they say, sharing is caring. It all depends on everyone else sharing. That's why I said "99% of the time" before - most people can and do share. Course, if you're on dialup that's ok, you can have a slow u/l, and most people would be ok with that. However, the last 1% - these are tightasses (the ones that d/l like 1 gig of stuff and only u/l like 10 megs, really not on) Grabbing rare stuff is harder too (if there are little/no seeds, you won't get the file). Also, if you're paranoid... BT does leave you "open" - theoretically law enforcement agencies could track people down with relative ease (easy access to IP's
) But yea, overall BT is probably the best P2P application if you're on broadband.
However, there are also perks - 99% of the time when you're downloading something, you're also uploading stuff for everyone else. As long as someone has more of the d/l, or the complete file, you can d/l it. This eliminated file queues. This is main difference between other P2P programs like Kazaa, WinMX or Emule (where they depend on someone who has the file who has the capability to share who isn't sharing at that time - BT doesn't have "queues" like those programs). Also, since you can search for torrents on a website, you can usually be sure of what you are getting, and makes things much easier (little need to implement search functions in the actual program, just use your internet browser).
Disadvantages - well, as they say, sharing is caring. It all depends on everyone else sharing. That's why I said "99% of the time" before - most people can and do share. Course, if you're on dialup that's ok, you can have a slow u/l, and most people would be ok with that. However, the last 1% - these are tightasses (the ones that d/l like 1 gig of stuff and only u/l like 10 megs, really not on) Grabbing rare stuff is harder too (if there are little/no seeds, you won't get the file). Also, if you're paranoid... BT does leave you "open" - theoretically law enforcement agencies could track people down with relative ease (easy access to IP's
) But yea, overall BT is probably the best P2P application if you're on broadband.From personal experience, I can tell you that the other p2p apps that you listed are quite easily tracked as well. I've seen numerous emule and kazaa DMCA complaints from copyright holders.Fulsion wrote:Also, if you're paranoid... BT does leave you "open" - theoretically law enforcement agencies could track people down with relative ease (easy access to IP's
But yes, you give a very good description of the downsides (such as they are) for BT as a distribution mechanism.
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FuguTabetai
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I really look forward to the day when some poor guy who was just trying to publish some tax protest documentation gets prosecuted for kiddy porn because his Freenet box happened to serve up a picture of a naked kid that some anonymous pervert put on that system. The more people that use a system like this, the more attractive it will be to the seedier net population,a nd the more likely that it will cause problems.
Anonymity on the 'net isn't all it's cracked up to be. I suspect that the Freenet FAQ's statements in regards to freedom of speech and illicit uses will be proven to be naive in the long term.
Sure, illicit use of BT can get you nailed for copyright issues, but at least you know what content you're pirating and thereby can manage your personal exposure to legal risk.
Anonymity on the 'net isn't all it's cracked up to be. I suspect that the Freenet FAQ's statements in regards to freedom of speech and illicit uses will be proven to be naive in the long term.
Sure, illicit use of BT can get you nailed for copyright issues, but at least you know what content you're pirating and thereby can manage your personal exposure to legal risk.