On 18 Dec 2006 at 22:18, chipo chika wrote:

> What is a bit torrent? Each time I want to download a link under files
> listed as bit torrents I end up downloading small files of a few KB. How
> do bit torrents differ from the ordinary downloads?
> -- 

  Bit torrents are a type of P2P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing system.

  Peer-to-peer systems work a bit differently from straight downloads.  
Instead of receiving the whole file sequentially from the server, you 
receive it in pieces from various machines that have copies of the file 
available to share, and client software running on your PC reassembles the 
file from those pieces.  That same client software can also be used to offer 
files that are on your machine.

  The key advantage of peer-to-peer sharing is that it's fast, which makes 
it popular for large or numerous files.

  There are a few disadvantages to P2P.  It achieves its speed by saturating 
your Internet connection, which is sometimes tolerable when all you're 
sharing the connection with is a couple of family members or housemates.  
It's another story when you're on a company or campus LAN, and before it can 
saturate your LAN connection, it has crowded out all of the organizations 
other Internet traffic....
  The most popular P2P downloads -- including via BitTorrents -- are music, 
TV and movies, rarely with the permission of the copyright owners.  Another 
popular category is pirated versions of commercial software.
  BitTorrents is perhaps unique amongst P2P services in having recruited 
some providers of open source software, including Linux distributions, to 
deliver their software via the service.  The companies save money because 
the cost of the bandwidth to distribute their software is paid by the 
recipients, not the company.  That actually raises another issue:  I work 
for a college funded by the state, and so our bandwidth is paid for by the 
taxpayers, not the students.  Our lawyers have drawn attention to the 
potential legal liability associated with providing publicly funded 
resources as a subsidy to private commercial enterprises.

  There are a variety of Bit Torrent services and clients, and clients exist 
for some other P2P systems as well.  There is a potential security issue in 
that some client versions may "share" files from your PC without asking you 
first....

  The upshot is that on some networks, there are policies and enforcement 
devices in place to throttle, block, or even penalize P2P use.  Check with 
your Internet provider first.

David Gillett

                  Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
               articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
                          http://freepctech.com