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Originally Posted by desertgrandma
What exactly is "torrent" and what is it used for? I've seen some site online that show it.....I know its a download but nothing else. Thanks....
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A "torrent" is a torrent file, and torrent files are used by peer to peer file sharing software using the bit torrent protocol.
The purpose of bit torrent is to reduce the load on servers. The torrent file isn't the content you want: it's a description of the content. The bit torrent client reads the torrent file and contacts a tracker running on a torrent server. The tracker maintains a list of machines that have all or part of the file, and sends it to you. Your bit torrent client opens connections to those machines and requests the file.
The key to bit torrent is that it's two way. At the same time you are downloading pieces of the file you don't have from machines that have it, you are also
uploading pieces of the file you
do have to machines that need it. Bit torrent is designed for simultaneous upload and download, and while you
can download without uploading, it will be very slow.
How fast you'll get the file depends upon how many systems known to the tracker have it. The more seeds (systems with a complete copy) there are, the faster you can get the file. For that reason, it's considered courteous in bit torrent networks to leave your torrent client connected after you get the complete download, to allow others to get it from you.
Bit torrent can be used to transfer any sort of file, and it's popular for folks sharing music, films, and TV episodes. I tend to use it for things like open source software distributions, to do what it was intended to do and reduce the load on the host server.
There are a number of Bit Torrent clients out there, including the original Bit Torrent program. I like an open source Java based version called Azureus, but there are plenty of other options.
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Dennis