BitTorrent(Main)
From FreeSpace Wiki
HLP 3.0 includes a BitTorrent Tracker, which will soon allow Freespace 2 to be downloaded quickly and efficiently over this system.
Note: HLP BitTorrent Tracker was removed due to lack of use. It is unlikely that the Tracker will ever make a comeback. These FS Wiki BitTorrent-articles are preserved since they contain useful bits of information nevertheless.
What is BitTorrent?
The name "BitTorrent" refers to the distribution protocol, the original client application written by Bram Cohen in Python, and the .torrent file type.
BitTorrent is a protocol designed for transferring files. It is peer-to-peer in nature, as users connect to each other directly to send and receive portions of the file. However, there is a central server (called a tracker) which coordinates the action of all such peers. The tracker only manages connections, it does not have any knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed, and therefore a large number of users can be supported with relatively limited tracker bandwidth. The key philosophy of BitTorrent is that users should upload (transmit outbound) at the same time they are downloading (receiving inbound.) In this manner, network bandwidth is utilized as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better as the number of people interested in a certain file increases, in contrast to other file transfer protocols.
Links
- Hard Light Productions BitTorrent Tracker
- Original Python client by Bram Cohen
- BitTornado
- µTorrent
- Azureus
