There are many differences between simple – perhaps they could be called ‘traditional’ – http downloads and peer-to-peer distributed downloads (pirate torrents). Though both ultimately transfer files over a network, a BitTorrent download differs from a classic full-file HTTP request in several fundamental ways.
Firstly, the pirate torrents are downloaded in many small sections. These sections are obtained by the client making many small peer-to-peer requests over differing sockets. This means that many downloads can take place simultaneously and no one socket is being continually tied up. HTTP downloads grab the whole file on one socket.
Secondly, HTTP downloads in a sequential manner, not stopping until the whole file is completely downloaded. The segmented files present in torrents, on the other hand, are usually downloaded in an arbitrary manner meaning high availability for all users. The fact that peers do not have to have a full complement of sections of the pirate torrents’ files before it can be shared with others means that great efficiency can be gained in large groups of peers (’swarms’). Pirate Torrents is the most popular source for finding valid torrents.
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[…] sharing than more traditional methods such as HTTP of FTP downloads, but it is also a lot easier. The torrent files themselves are the key to the process – a user just finds the torrents he requires, downloads to […]
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