Korean Job Discussion Forums

Prince844 · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

Hi,

Can someone explain how to use bitorrent? Its a silly question, but I've never paid much attention to it...but given the crazy internet here and having free time I figured I'd try to find some Dr.Who or Daily Show eps.

Thanks

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

First download a bit torrent client and install it. Then find a web site that has torrents. Find a torrent you want to download, say "Star Trek Enterprise.torrent". The torrent isn't the file itself. It's just a file that tells your bit.torrent client where to find the file on the internet and start downloading the file. (That's actually a simplification. The torrent file tells your client where to find the tracker on the internet... the tracker determines who gets what part of the file and how quickly they get it.) Double click on the .torrent file you downloaded. This will launch your client.

Once your bit.torrent client finds the tracker and logs on, you will start to receive the file. Slowly at first. You will also notice as you download, you start to upload. That's the magic of bit.torrent. It's like a chain. What you download from X person, you then immediately pass it on to Y person in the chain. Y person then passes it on to Z person in the chain and so on. In many cases you won't just receive the file from X person. You will receive part of the file from X person and part from W person and part from V person. Your client then stitches all these parts together to form the file.

The tracker keeps track of how fast you upload. If you're uploading a lot, then the tracker will let you get more hunks of the file from more users.

Most of us use asynchronous broadband connections. We can download way, way, way faster than we can upload. For example we might be able to download at 500 kb/s but we can only upload at 50 kb/s. That doesn't bother many people because we mostly only ever download. ISPs like it because it prevents you from turning yourself into your own ISP.

The downside is if you're trying to transfer a 800 meg file at your 50 kb/s rate it's very slow. Your friend might be able to dl at 500 kb/s a second but if you can only send at 50 kb/s then he can only download from you at 50 kb/s. Now what if that 800 meg file was broken up into 8 100 meg slices and 8 different people were sending you their slice each at their 50 kb/s rate and you had a piece of software that organized those slices into their proper order. The total upload rate is additive then... 50+50+50+50+50+50+50+50= 400 kb/s.

skconqueror · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

you only upload at 50? I think you have a problem there. Do you have bit torrent set to max upload connections? You have to change it manually, even if (like bittornado) you set it at unlimited. This only sets 6 upload connections. I always change mine to 100. My upload speed is usually 400kps.

Prince844 · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

Thanks - that was a great explanation, I think I understand the system now.

I downloaded a version of bitorrent that supposedly doesn't need the tracking files -- but what other clients are there? BitTornado was mentioned?

I managed to find a .torrent for battlestar gallactica...i'm getting an upload of 200+ kbs and a download of around 80kbs.

Are there any major torrent sites where I can get easy access to those .torrent files?

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Actually, my upload rate has been about 20-50 kbps. And the bar for max u/l rate is set to 700 to allow for anything. I don't know why that is. I'd love to find a way to speed it up, though, as I can't d/l another file until the one I just got is finished uploading.

Prince, I'll suggest a site that was suggested to my by blunder1984. torrentspy.com. I've just started using bitTorrent within the past few days, and that's the only site I've used. I've been able to find anything I was looking for, as far as movies and TV shows. I haven't found any music on there yet.

Cheers,
Q~

conor · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: Seoul

If you have a router and/or XP SP2 installed then you need to configure them to your listening port for your torrent client. Then your speeds will be sick.

skconqueror · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

inthewild · Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Location: Korea

skconqueror · Joined: 31 Jul 2005

conor · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: Seoul

ejmlab · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Location: Pohang

Just to add a minor point about bit torrents. You should be somewhat careful about maxing your upload speed. In Korea this is not much of an issue but if your upload speed is at it's maximum you will impede your download speed. Let me explain why. If you are uploading at maximum speed your bt client will be unable to communicate periodic packet information to other peers in the network. What happens is that your client is not only sending the data that comprises the media file (or what have you) but also a stream of data that tells other peers in the swarm which packets you have available for upload and which packets you need to download. It is generally recommended to find the maximum upload speed (practical as opposed to theoretical--how fast can you practically upload as opposed to what your ISP advertises as max upload speed) of your connection and then set your client at about 80-90% of that maximum. This will allow you to maximize your sharing without impeding crucial client communciations.

Cheers,
ejmlab