What Is BitTorrent and How Do I Use It to Download and Upload Files?

What Is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is an internet peer- to-peer file sharing protocol .Its uniqueness lies in the fact that you are also getting portions from fellow downloaders to maximize data exchange.

BitTorrent is one of the most commonly used protocols for transferring very large files since everybody is both sending and receiving, it’s much more efficient than everybody downloading from a single server.

Indexers

An “indexer” is a site that compiles a list of torrents and descriptions and is a place where users form a community (with rules!) around BitTorrent content.

Trackers

A “tracker” is a server that assists in directing peers .Since most indexers have their own private tracker, most people just refer to them both as trackers.

Trackers route little pieces of data, or packets, to downloaders and assist them in connecting to their fellow peers and because everybody’s sharing with each other while downloading, it tends to zip along quickly.

Seeders and Leechers

Once you’re done downloading, you become a “seeder .If you disable uploading and you only download, you’re referred to as a “leecher,” and aside from its ethical misgivings it can lead to being banned from the tracker.

Public vs Private Trackers

Another aspect of trackers are whether they are public or private, so only registered users can download, upload, and/or have access to perks like additional downloads.“Public” trackers usually don’t require registration , or if they do, it’s free and always open .

BitTorrent Clients

The client’s job is to manage your torrents, actually connect to other peers , manage statistics on your end, and, of course, download and upload.

There’s no lack of free, feature-packed BitTorrent clients, but we strongly recommend uTorrent (for Windows) and Transmission (for Mac OS and Linux ) .

Downloading Torrents

In order to download files, you hop on your tracker’s website and download the torrent file, which is usually under 30 KB. The process is that simple, although there is a lot you can do to make the most of your connection if you play around with your client.

Step by Step

Here, I’m using uTorrent as my chosen client on Windows .

Next, we need a torrent file.

Once you have your torrent file in an easy-to-reach (or well-organized) location, all you have to do is load it in your client.

You’ll see uTorrent popup and you’ll get a dialog .

Here, you can choose where the torrent will download to, whether or not you want to add it to the top of your queue of torrents, and you can even unmark individual files from being downloaded.