What does upload mean while we are downloading something using torrent and why does it even continue after the download is complete? Torrent is a P2P file sharing system, i.e, whenever you download a file from torrents, your downloading that file from some people (some >= 1), these ppl are the ones who have completed downloading the file. The storm turned the stream into a raging torrent. The rain came down in torrents. Recent Examples on the Web: Noun. In response, Grande shut off her Instagram comments due to the torrent of abuse aimed at her. First Known Use of torrent. 1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1.
- What Does Seeding Mean Torrent Download
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- What Does Download Torrent Mean Like
- How To Download Utorrent
Filename extension | .torrent |
---|---|
Internet media type | application/x-bittorrent |
Standard | BEP-0003[1] |
In the BitTorrent file distribution system, a torrent file or METAINFO is a computer file that contains metadata about files and folders to be distributed, and usually also a list of the network locations of trackers, which are computers that help participants in the system find each other and form efficient distribution groups called swarms.[1] A torrent file does not contain the content to be distributed; it only contains information about those files, such as their names, sizes, folder structure, and cryptographic hash values for verifying file integrity. The term torrent may refer either to the metadata file or to the files downloaded, depending on the context.
Torrents, typically ending in '.torrent', are control files for the peer-to-peer file sharing technology called BitTorrent. It's actually pretty cool technology that really just boils down to another way to download files. So really, you just use.torrent files to download other files.
In a nutshell, a torrent file is like an index, which facilitates the efficient lookup of information (but doesn't contain the information itself) and the address of available worldwide computers which upload the content. Torrent files themselves and the method of using torrent files have been created to ease the load on servers. With help of torrents, one can download files from other computers which have the file or even a fraction of the file. These 'peers' allow downloading of the file in addition to, or in place of, the primary server.
Torrent files are normally named with the extension.torrent.
- 3Extensions
- 3.1Draft extensions
- 4Examples
Background[edit]
Typically, Internet access is asymmetrical, supporting greater download speeds than upload speeds, limiting the bandwidth of each download, and sometimes enforcing bandwidth caps and periods where systems are not accessible. This creates inefficiency when many people want to obtain the same set of files from a single source; the source must always be online and must have massive outbound bandwidth. The BitTorrent protocol addresses this by decentralizing the distribution, leveraging the ability of people to network 'peer-to-peer', among themselves.
Each file to be distributed is divided into small information chunks called pieces. Downloading peers achieve high download speeds by requesting multiple pieces from different computers simultaneously in the swarm. Once obtained, these pieces are usually immediately made available for download by others in the swarm. In this way, the burden on the network is spread among the downloaders, rather than concentrating at a central distribution hub or cluster. As long as all the pieces are available, peers (downloaders and uploaders) can come and go; no one peer needs to have all the chunks, or to even stay connected to the swarm in order for distribution to continue among the other peers.
A small torrent file is created to represent a file or folder to be shared. The torrent file acts as the key to initiating downloading of the actual content. Someone interested in receiving the shared file or folder first obtains the corresponding torrent file, either by directly downloading it, or by using a magnet link. The user then opens that file in a BitTorrent client, which automates the rest of the process. In order to learn the Internet locations of peers which may be sharing pieces, the client connects to the trackers named in the torrent file, and/or achieves a similar result through the use of distributed hash tables. Then the client connects directly to the peers in order to request pieces and otherwise participate in a swarm. The client may also report progress to trackers, to help the tracker with its peer recommendations.
When the client has all the pieces, they assemble them into a usable form. They may also continue sharing the pieces, elevating its status to that of seeder rather than ordinary peer.
File structure[edit]
A torrent file contains a list of files and integrity metadata about all the pieces, and optionally contains a list of trackers.
A torrent file is a bencodeddictionary with the following keys (the keys in any bencoded dictionary are lexicographically ordered):
- announce—the URL of the tracker
- info—this maps to a dictionary whose keys are dependent on whether one or more files are being shared:
- files—a list of dictionaries each corresponding to a file (only when multiple files are being shared). Each dictionary has the following keys:
- length—size of the file in bytes.
- path—a list of strings corresponding to subdirectory names, the last of which is the actual file name
- length—size of the file in bytes (only when one file is being shared)
- name—suggested filename where the file is to be saved (if one file)/suggested directory name where the files are to be saved (if multiple files)
- piece length—number of bytes per piece. This is commonly 28 KiB = 256 KiB = 262,144 B.
- pieces—a hash list, i.e., a concatenation of each piece's SHA-1 hash. As SHA-1 returns a 160-bit hash, pieces will be a string whose length is a multiple of 20 bytes. If the torrent contains multiple files, the pieces are formed by concatenating the files in the order they appear in the files dictionary (i.e. all pieces in the torrent are the full piece length except for the last piece, which may be shorter).
- files—a list of dictionaries each corresponding to a file (only when multiple files are being shared). Each dictionary has the following keys:
All strings must be UTF-8 encoded, except for pieces, which contains binary data.
Extensions[edit]
A torrent file can also contain additional metadata defined in extensions to the BitTorrent specification.[2] These are known as 'BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals.' Examples of such proposals include metadata for stating who created the torrent, and when.
Draft extensions[edit]
These extensions are under consideration for standardization.
Distributed hash tables[edit]
BEP-0005[3] extends BitTorrent to support distributed hash tables.
A trackerless torrent dictionary does not have an announce key. Instead, a trackerless torrent has a nodes key:
For example,
The specification recommends that nodes 'should be set to the K closest nodes in the torrent generating client's routing table. Alternatively, the key could be set to a known good node such as one operated by the person generating the torrent.'
Multiple trackers[edit]
BEP-0012[4] extends BitTorrent to support multiple trackers.
A new key, announce-list, is placed in the top-most dictionary (i.e. with announce and info)
HTTP seeds[edit]
BEP-0017[5] extends BitTorrent to support HTTP seeds.
A new key, httpseeds, is placed in the top-most list (i.e. with announce and info). This key's value is a list of web addresses where torrent data can be retrieved:
Private torrents[edit]
BEP-0027[6] extends BitTorrent to support private torrents.
A new key, private, is placed in the info dictionary. This key's value is 1 if the torrent is private:
Merkle trees[edit]
BEP-0030[7] extends BitTorrent to support Merkle trees. The purpose is to reduce the file size of torrent files, which reduces the burden on those that serve torrent files.
A torrent file using Merkle trees does not have a pieces key in the info list. Instead, such a torrent file has a root_hash key in the info list. This key's value is the root hash of the Merkle hash:
Examples[edit]
Single file[edit]
Here is what a de-bencoded torrent file (with piece length 256 KiB = 262,144 bytes) for a file debian-503-amd64-CD-1.iso (whose size is 678 301 696 bytes) might look like:
Note: pieces here would be a 51 KiB value ().
Multiple files[edit]
Here is what a de-bencoded torrent file (with 'piece length' 256 KiB = 262144 B) for two files, 111.txt and 222.txt, might look like:
What Does Seeding Mean Torrent Download
See also[edit]
References[edit]
![Download torrent for pc Download torrent for pc](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126401925/113435286.png)
- ^ ab'BEP-0003: The BitTorrent Protocol Specification'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0000: Index of BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0005: DHT Protocol'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0012: Multitracker Metadata Extension'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0017: HTTP Seeding'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0027: Private Torrents'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^'BEP-0030: Merkle hash torrent extension'. Bittorrent.org. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Torrent_file&oldid=897025568'
When it comes to torrents, one of the most commonly asked questions is “Is downloading torrents legal or illegal?” Torrent clients, such as uTorrent Vuze and the official BitTorrent client, are used to download immense amounts of data on the Web, and there’s no question that much of it is illegal. Here we’ll talk about how torrent downloads work, when they’re illegal, and how to protect your privacy when you’re using them.
So What Is Legal and What Is Illegal?
The short answer: as long as the item is copyrighted and you don’t own it, then downloading it (for free) via torrent is illegal. Using a torrent client and downloading torrents in itself isn’t illegal, as you could be downloading things that aren’t protected by copyright.
The long answer: This varies from case to case. Most countries have basic common laws against intellectual property theft. If a piece of music is copyrighted and you don’t own it, you can’t download it legally. The same goes for a movie, a game, or anything else you may want (unless the copyright-holder decides to make it free either temporarily or permanently, as is often the case with video games). The line gets kind of fuzzy here, since people ask themselves many different questions about their own country’s laws.
In general, a copyright is registered to an individual or organization that creates something. This copyright has a time limit, usually equivalent to the lifetime of the creator and a set amount of additional years. Some copyrights are for life plus fifty years. Others are for life plus seventy years. Look up your country in the previous link if you’re unsure of your laws. Of course, your mileage may vary, as some things may not be protected by the law where you live, or copyright law may not be enforced at all.
So if you’re downloading a free Linux distribution through your torrent client, you don’t need to worry. But if you’re getting John Lennon’s “Imagine” from The Pirate Bay, you’re doing something that in all likelihood is breaking a law.
Related: How to Download Torrents onto Your iOS Device Without Jailbreaking
Torrent Privacy
Whatever it is you’re doing is not any of my business. But it is my business to make sure you know just how “anonymous” you are in the torrent network. The short answer is: you totally aren’t!
It’s handy to have a basic knowledge of how the torrent protocol works. Theoretically you should have some level of privacy since you’re not downloading any data from one particular server (in contrast to downloading something from a central server like you’d find on Microsoft’s website, where they’ll know exactly who it is that’s downloading their products).
But through the torrent system you download directions to a file. That means that the torrent file is actually just a list of trackers and some hash codes. It doesn’t really prove that you downloaded the torrent file. What you do inside your torrent client is more important, and that’s all managed by a decentralized list of servers. Once you start the download of the actual file you want to get to, you end up downloading little pieces of the file from a bunch of people.
Can You Get Caught?
![Mean Mean](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126401925/576325006.png)
Government agents and copyright trolls tend to snoop around the Torrent networks, and some of the more popular sites hosting Torrent files, downloading files and listing all the IP addresses they find under the Peers (downloaders) and Seeders (uploaders) lists. This will, of course, compromise your address eventually.
The actual number of people who get caught is miniscule, but if you want to secure yourself and don’t care much to contribute to the Torrent community, then you can disable seeding which stops your PC uploading files to the torrent network. Avid torrenters would call this selfish, and maybe they’re right, but you’re also covering yourself.
Another good option is to use a proxy or VPN, then set your torrent client to connect to peers through that. This essentially makes you anonymous by routing your connection through a different IP address.
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Then there’s the onion routing network (Tor) that you can configure as a proxy for your torrent client. However, since the Snowden revelations it’s become known that even Tor has been targeted by the NSA and GCHQ for illegal activity. While the network is mostly secure, there have been incidents of these spy bodies attacking individual computers, so it’s not as anonymous as it once was.
What Does Download Torrent Mean Like
Conclusion
Rest assured that torrenting does not equate to piracy. It does, however, provide a very convenient way to do it! The torrent protocol is just a clever transmission method for users to download files more easily. If you’re worried that you may be downloading something that’s against the laws in your country, ask below.
This article was first published in Jun 2013 and was updated in Nov 2017.
How To Download Utorrent
Image credit: Pirate Bay main page