Today I'll be giving a more detailed example to how File Sharing clients, like Ares and LimeWire, work. These clients are used mostly for downloading music. Torrents are still used more than P2P clients, but clients are still widespread and are used a lot anyways.
How do these clients work?
There are different clients that use different P2P networks. Some of the more known networks are Gnutella and eDonkey. If you've read my previous post, you should have a good idea of how files are shared in BitTorrent networks. The same concept is used here. Let's say a guy is using Ares P2P client. Most P2P clients ask you to share a folder on your computer. This means the files in that folder are uploaded whenever someone requests to download the file. If you're connection is off, he won't be able to leech the files from you. More uploaders means higher download speed.
The files in your shared folder are connected to your clients' network. LimeWire, for example, uses Gnutella. Gnutella was and still is one of the most used P2P networks to date. It is being used in around 10 clients including: LimeWire, BearShare and Shareaza. The client uploads these files to the network, where people can search for them and download them from you. If there are more than one file under the same name as yours, the download speed increases. Once you shut your connection or computer, the files stop uploading and people can't download it anymore (unless someone else is sharing the same file).
eDonkey works a bit differently than other networks. You first have to connect to a server, before you can start searching for files. Each server has a user limit. Once a certain number of users is reached, you won't be able to connect to it anymore. Most of the other networks don't need you to connect to servers, but eDonkey clients have a larger variety of files than other networks.
This is a simple introduction, so you can understand how the system works. There are many networks other than Gnutella and eDonkey, but these two are the most used in File Sharing clients.
Where can I get a client; How do I use it?
1. Check out this link for a list of clients.
2. Once you've downloaded one of the clients, install it then click on the Search button.
3. Always check for the highest number of sharers; the higher, the better.
4. Enjoy!
As the title says, today I'll be digging a little deeper into the world of P2P. This post is mainly about how torrents work and how you can download them. In the world of P2P, torrents are the most dominant because of two main reasons:
1. Ease of finding torrents because of a large variety of sites that deal with different formats.
2. More uploaders, or seeders, means higher download speeds than P2P File Sharing clients.
How do torrents work?
I'll make this as straightforward as possible. Here is an example to understand this concept easier. Lets name our seeders S1, S2 and S3. Our leechers, or downloaders, will be named L1, L2 and L3. The creator of the torrent will be named C1.
C1 will submit a .torrent file, which contains information on the size, extension and parts of the file, to any popular torrent site. He then starts to seed this file so other people can leech it from him. Once they're done downloading the file, they can then optionally seed this file to make the download speed faster.
NOTE: (higher upload speed of seeders = higher download speed).
If they choose to seed this file, they'll be named S1, S2 and S3. A few people come over and find out that they need this file, so they download it. Hence, they become leechers. We'll name them L1, L2 and L3. These three leechers will download the file from the seeders. If one of the seeders switches off his connection or shuts down his computer, the download speed will decrease. If someone else decides to start seeding the file, the download speed will increase.
After all this happens hundreds and hundreds of times over, the file gets older and seeders stop seeding this file. When this happens, the torrent virtually dies. This means that there are no seeders left to upload the file. The only way to bring dead torrents back to life is by convincing people who already have the file to start seeding it again. There is also another way to bring torrents back to life, but I will explain how to do that later.
How do I start downloading torrents?
Easy.
1. Visit my post on my other blog here.
2. Go to anyone of the listed sites.
3. Search for the file you want.
4. Look at the seeds on the right, near the torrent name. The higher the seeds, the better.
5. Its best to have less leechers than seeders, but it doesn't really matter.
6. Download uTorrent from here.
7. Install the client.
8. Download the torrent file for the file you want to download.
9. Open the .torrent file with uTorrent.
10. There you go!
Nowadays, the word P2P seems to come up almost everywhere on the world wide web. However, not everyone knows what this word means. If you're one of them, don't worry--follow this blog to gain more knowledge on this now widespread subject.
What exactly does P2P mean?
The abbreviation P2P stands for Peer-to-Peer. You may not know what "Peer" means, but it's really simple. Peer is a computer that uploads a certain file for other users to download. This is widely used in BitTorrent clients or in File Sharing clients like LimeWire or Ares (more info on these two later). I'll give you a brief example on how this system works.
How does it work?
You and I have the same file on our computers--let's say, The Lion King movie. We use a BitTorrent client to continously seed, or upload, this file to other people. Once someone has completely downloaded the file we both have, he in turn can optionally seed this file to help us, and so on. Once there are no seeders left, the torrent (as it is named), virtually dies. This means that there is no-one left to upload this file to other people.
File Sharing works just like BitTorrent, but instead of having to search the file on the internet, you search for it in the client. The term seeding isn't used here--it's simply put as sharing. The same concept is used--uploading the file so other people can download it and so on. The most notorious of these File Sharing Clients are: LimeWire, Ares, eMule and FrostWire.
Well, that's all to the basics of P2P. Now you understand it, you can do a little more research of your own, or you could just follow my blog. I will simplify everything as much as possible so anyone can understand, even children. P2P is a vast world, and I'm happy to teach everyone who's willing to learn.
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