What is Torrent?




Torrenting is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing technology, which enables you to transfer files among users. Unlike general file sharing services like Google Drive or One Drive, Torrent does not have a single centralized server. Instead, the torrent users or more appropriately the peers acts as mini-servers which helps decrease the network load.
In simple words, if you download a file using torrent then that file is simultaneously gets uploaded to other users who are downloading the same file. Here you are acting as server. Similarly, if 1000 people are downloading the same file then they act as 1000 mini servers to provide the file who requires it.
Now when you are working with torrent you will come across some terminologies like Peers, Seeders etc. So, let me explain those to you.

The Terminologies related to Torrenting:

  • Torrent Client: This is the piece of software which you will use to download torrents onto your PCs or Mobile phones. You might have came across the name uTorrent or BitTorrent. These are the torrent clients I was talking about. Of Course there other and better clients out there but these two are the most popular.
  • Peers: When you start downloading any files in torrent, you will see a term Peers along with a number associated with it which keeps changing and different for different torrents. These peers represent the people or users who are involved in sharing files through torrent p2p sharing. As long as they keep sharing files on the network, they will be called peers.
  • Seeders: A user is said to be a seeder when he is downloading a file and simultaneously uploading the files to other peers. You become a seeder as soon as as you start downloading a file through torrent. So, you should keep in mind that in torrent you will lose more data than the size of the file that you are downloading. However it depends on the demand of the file that you are downloading.
  • Leechers: The peer who restricts the upload of a torrent file as soon as his/her download is complete is called a leecher. Leechers are not helpful in seeding a torrent.
  • Swarms: A number of peers downloading or uploading the same file.
  • Indexers: Websites that work as a search engine for the files and content to be downloaded through a torrent. Some famous indexers are Piratebay, Extratorrent or Torrentz, which are widely used.
Now as you know the working of torrent, you may ask why use torrent when there are other options available. Well there are number of reasons.

Why use Torrent?

  • The most obvious answer is that its free and the moment you learn the tricks you will find it a hassle free procedure which is completely opposite to direct downloading options where you are almost every time required to go through a ton of ads to get the download link.
  • As torrent does not rely upon a single centralized server so you can be sure that even if a server goes down, there are others which will provide you with the file.
  • The downloading is very flexible. You can pause and resume many times as you like.
  • Generally torrent downloads are faster. (Torrent should be well seeded).
  • It enables you to download several files at once.

Cons Of Torrent:

As with everything, torrent has some downsides as well.
If a torrent does not have seeders then the file will not download. This happens mostly with old or less demanding files which are not hosted by anyone.
It also shares your device information and IP address to other peers, and your personal information can be easily tracked down by copyright trolls and internet service providers.
Many torrent files are malware ridden, so you have to be very cautious about downloading any file.
These problems can be easily solved except the first one. You can simply use a good VPN service to hide your IP. Malwares can be dodged by simply using common sense or downloading torrents on a mobile device as most malwares are made for PCs.

Is Torrent Illegal?

Now lets get to our final and a very important topic. Is Torrenting legal?
The answer is not that simple. You see, the technology behind torrent is completely safe and legal. It is just a p2p(person-to-person) file sharing service. There is nothing wrong with it.
The illegal part is the content that is being shared over the torrent network. People download movies, music, apps using torrent. Most of them are copyright protected. So downloading or sharing contents that are copyright protected is an illegal activity.

If you want to know how to download files like Movies, music etc. by using torrent client then check out this article here .


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