BitTorrent may refer to:
BitTorrent (protocol), a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol
BitTorrent client, a program that downloads files using the BitTorrent protocol
BitTorrent, Inc., an American corporation that develops Internet content distribution technology based on the BitTorrent protocol
BitTorrent (software), the official BitTorrent client.
BitTorrent DNA (Delivery Network Accelerator)....BitTorrent is a protocol designed for transferring files. It is peer-to-peer in nature, as users connect to each other directly to send and receive portions of the file. However, there is a central server (called a tracker) which coordinates the action of all such peers. The tracker only manages connections, it does not have any knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed, and therefore a large number of users can be supported with relatively limited tracker bandwidth. The key philosophy of BitTorrent is that users should upload (transmit outbound) at the same time they are downloading (receiving inbound.) In this manner, network bandwidth is utilized as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better as the number of people interested in a certain file increases, in contrast to other file transfer protocols.

One analogy to describe this process might be to visualize a group of people sitting at a table. Each person at the table can both talk and listen to any other person at the table. These people are each trying to get a complete copy of a book. Person A announces that he has pages 1-10, 23, 42-50, and 75. Persons C, D, and E are each missing some of those pages that A has, and so they coordinate such that A gives them each copies of the pages he has that they are missing. Person B then announces that she has pages 11-22, 31-37, and 63-70. Persons A, D, and E tell B they would like some of her pages, so she gives them copies of the pages that she has. The process continues around the table until everyone has announced what they have (and hence what they are missing.) The people at the table coordinate to swap parts of this book until everyone has everything. There is also another person at the table, who we'll call 'S'. This person has a complete copy of the book, and so doesn't need anything sent to him. He responds with pages that no one else in the group has. At first, when everyone has just arrived, they all must talk to him to get their first set of pages. However, the people are smart enough to not all get the same pages from him. After a short while they all have most of the book amongst themselves, even if no one person has the whole thing. In this manner, this one person can share a book that he has with many other people, without having to give a full copy to everyone that's interested. He can instead give out different parts to different people, and they will be able to share it amongst themselves. This person who we've referred to as 'S' is called a seed in the terminology of BitTorrent. There's more about the various terms in a later section.

Answered by raj u , an ibibo Master, at 4:54 PM on September 26, 2008

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of data. The initial distributor of the complete file or collection acts as the first seed. Each peer who downloads the data also uploads them to other peers. Relative to standard internet hosting, this provides a significant reduction in the original distributor's hardware and bandwidth resource costs. It also provides redundancy against system problems and reduces dependence on the original distributor.

Programmer Bram Cohen designed the protocol in April 2001 and released a first implementation on 2 July 2001.[1] It is now maintained by Cohen's company BitTorrent, Inc. Usage of the protocol accounts for significant Internet traffic, though the precise amount has proven difficult to measure. There are numerous BitTorrent clients available for a variety of computing platforms.
A BitTorrent client is any program that implements the BitTorrent protocol. Each client is capable of preparing, requesting, and transmitting any type of computer file over a network, using the protocol. A peer is any computer running an instance of a client.

To share a file or group of files, a peer first creates a small file called a "torrent" (e.g. MyFile.torrent). This file contains metadata about the files to be shared and about the tracker, the computer that coordinates the file distribution. Peers that want to download the file first obtain a torrent file for it, and connect to the specified tracker, which tells them from which other peers to download the pieces of the file.

Though both ultimately transfer files over a network, a BitTorrent download differs from a classic full-file HTTP request in several fundamental ways:

* BitTorrent makes many small data requests over different TCP sockets, while web-browsers typically make a single HTTP GET request over a single TCP socket.
* BitTorrent downloads in a random or in a "rarest-first"[2] approach that ensures high availability, while HTTP downloads in a sequential manner.

Taken together, these differences allow BitTorrent to achieve much lower cost, much higher redundancy, and much greater resistance to abuse or to "flash crowds" than a regular HTTP server. However, this protection comes at a cost: downloads can take time to rise to full speed because it may take time for enough peer connections to be established, and it takes time for a node to receive sufficient data to become an effective uploader. As such, a typical BitTorrent download will gradually rise to very high speeds, and then slowly fall back down toward the end of the download. This contrasts with an HTTP server that, while more vulnerable to overload and abuse, rises to full speed very quickly and maintains this speed throughout.

In general, BitTorrent's non-contiguous download methods have prevented it from supporting "progressive downloads" or "streaming playback". But comments made by Bram Cohen in January 2007 suggest that streaming torrent downloads will soon be commonplace and ad supported streaming appears to be the result of those comments.
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/BitTorrent_(protocol )

Answered by Nishu's , an ibibo Master, at 9:49 AM on September 26, 2008

well;
BitTorrent is a protocol that enables fast downloading of large files using minimum Internet bandwidth. It costs nothing to use and includes no spyware or pop-up advertising.

Unlike other download methods, BitTorrent maximizes transfer speed by gathering pieces of the file you want and downloading these pieces simultaneously from people who already have them. This process makes popular and very large files, such as videos and television programs, download much faster than is possible with other protocols.

There are some terms that need to be understood when talking about the Bittorrent protocol.

Torrent - This is a metadata file that contains what files that are intended to be downloaded, as well as the trackers' IP address or URL.

Tracker - Think of a tracker as a Bittorrent server. The client contacts the tracker, and the tracker connects the client to various peers or seeds.

Seed - A kind of Bittorrent peer. Seeds are peers that have the complete file(s) on their hard drive.

Leecher - A kind of Bittorrent peer. Leechers are peers that are downloading from seeds or a swarm, but are not allowing their data to be uploaded.

Swarm - A collection of peers that are downloading and uploading at the same time.

Distributed Hash Table (DHT) - Think of DHT technology as a multi-computer tracker with error checking.

A popular Bittorrent client is uTorrent. uTorrent uses the DHT technology, as well as allowing the data that is being downloaded and uploaded to be encrypted. That way Internet Service Providers (ISP) aren't able to slow those transfers.

DHT works like this. Multiple computers basically create what is called an overlay network. Each computer on this network has what is called a DHT table. This table has a key with corresponding data. Usually a key is a section of the data itself as well as a way to identify the computer that actually has that file. That key is put into what is called a hash function, that determines where on the table it is going to be stored. The purpose of this is to create a more simple way to index or organize the table, as well as provide a way to do error checking. When a computer finishes downloading a section of the file, it takes the file's hash key and reverses the process. The hash key is put through the hash function to get the original key. If the original key's values matches a section of the downloaded packet, the data has no errors. If it has errors, the packet is discarded and is re-downloaded. There are so many other aspects of DHT technology. Check out reading in the bibliography to learn more.

This technology creates more of a sense of anonymity. Currently there are anonymous P2P networks that are being developed. The most predominant one is Stealth Net.

The most legal concern of this technology is pirating copyrighted material. Companies literally have departments devoted to shutting down illegal distribution of their product. One way they do this is shutting down websites that provide an index of .torrent files. The Pirate Bay is notorious for having their Legal Threats section. One valid legal argument is that a .torrent file does not contain the copyrighted material, and therefore is legal. Copyright laws are different in various countries, and therefore makes enforcing copyright infringement a gray area. There are allocations that the United States threatened trade sanctions on the Swedish government to shut down The Pirate Bay website. The RIAA and MPAA have already filed over 30,000 lawsuits. On one case, the defendant was charged $222,000 for having $23.67 worth of copyrighted music. The case is being appealed.

It is apparent that file sharing technology is revolutionizing the way the Internet is used. It will be extremely difficult to enforce copyright infringement laws on a national scale. The way this technology is being developed, is making it extrem

Answered by Kishore , an ibibo Master, at 8:11 AM on September 26, 2008

Well


BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (or P2P) protocol used for the distribution of large files.
More information:

* The official BitTorrent website
* Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide
* The Wikipedia BitTorrent page


And for more information visit the source site:
http://www.mininova.org/faq# bittorrent


BitTorrent is a protocol that enables fast downloading of large files using minimum Internet bandwidth. It costs nothing to use and includes no spyware or pop-up advertising.

Unlike other download methods, BitTorrent maximizes transfer speed by gathering pieces of the file you want and downloading these pieces simultaneously from people who already have them. This process makes popular and very large files, such as videos and television programs, download much faster than is possible with other protocols.

In this article, we'll examine how BitTorrent works and how it is different from other file-distribution methods. In addition, you'll learn how to use BitTorrent and what the future might hold for this innovative approach to serving files over the Internet.

And for more information visit the source site:

http://computer.howstuffwo rks.com/bittorrent.htm

Answered by Dinesh , an ibibo Master, at 7:15 AM on September 26, 2008

Hi


BitTorrent is the global standard for delivering high-quality files over the Internet. Our new site, BitTorrent.com, has been launched to provide a better digital entertainment experience for the community of over 150 million users who use our software.

With thousands of newly-released movies, TV shows, music tracks, and popular PC games available for download, you can easily find what you want, when you want it.

BitTorrent even enables you to publish your own content. If you are a filmmaker, musician, or even a comedian, it’s the perfect place to showcase your work to a worldwide audience.

No more lines. No more late fees. And definitely no more slow download times. The more popular any file is in our community, the faster you get it to your computer. From there, it’s your choice as to where you play it, even on your television.

And for more information visit the source site:

http://www.bittorrent.com/ what-is-bittorrent

BitTorrent is a file distribution system used for transferring files across a network of people. As you download a file, BitTorrent places what you download on upload for other users; when multiple people are downloading the same file at the same time they upload pieces of the file to each other. BitTorrent pieces together the file you are downloading, to where the first part of a file you get may be the last part someone else gets. As you continue to retrieve the file, BitTorrent also uploads data to other users. For example, a person with 98 percent of the file done is directed to the people with the 2 percent of the file they still need.

The files downloaded via BitTorrent are called torrents.

And for more information visit the source site:
http://www.webopedia.com/TER M/B/BitTorrent.html

Answered by Deepak , an ibibo Master, at 7:15 AM on September 26, 2008

BitTorrent is often referred to as the best filesharing protocol for sharing large files.

Bittorrent technology has revolutionized how data is shared over the Internet. It is estimated that Bittorrent traffic accounts for about 18 percent of all traffic on the Internet. The Bittorrent protocol is a cost effective way to share information across the Internet. One example of implementation of this technology is how gaming companies use this technology to upload game updates to all of their consumers. The basic concept of the Bittorrent protocol is to download various pieces of the desired file from different peers, as well as simultaneously uploading the downloaded pieces of the file.

There are some terms that need to be understood when talking about the Bittorrent protocol.

Torrent - This is a metadata file that contains what files that are intended to be downloaded, as well as the trackers' IP address or URL.

Tracker - Think of a tracker as a Bittorrent server. The client contacts the tracker, and the tracker connects the client to various peers or seeds.

Seed - A kind of Bittorrent peer. Seeds are peers that have the complete file(s) on their hard drive.

Leecher - A kind of Bittorrent peer. Leechers are peers that are downloading from seeds or a swarm, but are not allowing their data to be uploaded.

Swarm - A collection of peers that are downloading and uploading at the same time.

Distributed Hash Table (DHT) - Think of DHT technology as a multi-computer tracker with error checking.

A popular Bittorrent client is uTorrent. uTorrent uses the DHT technology, as well as allowing the data that is being downloaded and uploaded to be encrypted. That way Internet Service Providers (ISP) aren't able to slow those transfers.

DHT works like this. Multiple computers basically create what is called an overlay network. Each computer on this network has what is called a DHT table. This table has a key with corresponding data. Usually a key is a section of the data itself as well as a way to identify the computer that actually has that file. That key is put into what is called a hash function, that determines where on the table it is going to be stored. The purpose of this is to create a more simple way to index or organize the table, as well as provide a way to do error checking. When a computer finishes downloading a section of the file, it takes the file's hash key and reverses the process. The hash key is put through the hash function to get the original key. If the original key's values matches a section of the downloaded packet, the data has no errors. If it has errors, the packet is discarded and is re-downloaded. There are so many other aspects of DHT technology. Check out reading in the bibliography to learn more.

This technology creates more of a sense of anonymity. Currently there are anonymous P2P networks that are being developed. The most predominant one is Stealth Net.

For more detail-
http://www.pctechbytes.com /computer/article-97.html

Answered by Nagendra , an ibibo Master, at 5:58 AM on September 26, 2008

Hi Sanjeev

BitTorrent, invented by Bram Cohen, is a peer-to-peer protocol that allows people to share files among themselves. BitTorrent can provide speed beyond that of some P2P protocols because every user who is downloading a file simultaneously uploads portions of the file he or she has already downloaded to other users, which means the more people in the downloading "swarm," the greater the overall speed. Many people use BitTorrent to share copyright-protected files such as music and movies, which is often illegal, but the BitTorrent protocol and software are legal and are used the world over for legitimate information, media, and software distribution.

Thanks n regards

Suparn@

Answered by Suparna , an ibibo Master, at 1:09 AM on September 26, 2008

well SNJEEV, BitTorrent is a protocol that enables fast downloading of large files using minimum Internet bandwidth. It costs nothing to use and includes no spyware or pop-up advertising.

Unlike other download methods, BitTorrent maximizes transfer speed by gathering pieces of the file you want and downloading these pieces simultaneously from people who already have them. This process makes popular and very large files, such as videos and television programs, download much faster than is possible with other protocols.

In this article, we'll examine how BitTorrent works and how it is different from other file-distribution methods. In addition, you'll learn how to use BitTorrent and what the future might hold for this innovative approach to serving files over the Internet.

To understand how BitTorrent works and why it is different from other file-serving methods, let's examine what happens when you download a file from a Web site. It works something like this:

You open a Web page and click a link to download a file to your computer.
The Web browser software on your computer (the client) tells the server (a central computer that holds the Web page and the file you want to download) to transfer a copy of the file to your computer.
The transfer is handled by a protocol (a set of rules), such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol).

The transfer speed is affected by a number of variables, including the type of protocol, the amount of traffic on the server and the number of other computers that are downloading the file. If the file is both large and popular, the demands on the server are great, and the download will be slow.

For more information about Web servers and the traditional client-server download, see How Web Servers Work.


For more: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/b ittorrent.htm

Answered by Satya ~ , an ibibo Master, at 12:43 AM on September 26, 2008

Well Sanjeev, BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of data. The initial distributor of the complete file or collection acts as the first seed. Each peer who downloads the data also uploads them to other peers. Relative to standard internet hosting, this provides a significant reduction in the original distributor's hardware and bandwidth resource costs. It also provides redundancy against system problems and reduces dependence on the original distributor.

Programmer Bram Cohen designed the protocol in April 2001 and released a first implementation on 2 July 2001.[1] It is now maintained by Cohen's company BitTorrent, Inc. Usage of the protocol accounts for significant Internet traffic, though the precise amount has proven difficult to measure. There are numerous BitTorrent clients available for a variety of computing platforms.

For more details , Please visit the source site :

http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/BitTorrent_(protocol)

Answered by Alok Gupta , an ibibo Guru, at 12:19 AM on September 26, 2008