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Torrent
Terminology
Downloading software has changed over the years from when the only way to get a file was to download it from a main server or a mirror of that server. Then along came the peer to peer age where it was possible to get the files you required from a selection of people around the internet.
It got better than that, peer to peer software improved to the point that you could simultaneously download parts of a file from different sources at the same time, speeding up the download process. Torrents take this ides a step further by introducing a new system.
Like previous peer to peer idea's Torrents use the idea of splitting the file to download from several locations but now the system has changed. The file starts with a single "seed" which distributes different parts of the file to different peers, now many peers have a piece of the file, each peer transfers there parts of the file they have to others and so on until the whole group or "swarm" has the file they require. This idea provides a high level of efficiency and doesn't tie up anyone one peers connection. If your using torrents you may require to know some of the terms used in the torrent client software or from around the web
Torrent
A Torrent (also known as Bit-Torrent) is a file that contains the data about the file you wish to download. This file is used by the Torrent Client in order to successfully download your required file. The Torrent file does not contain the data of the file you wish to download.
Torrent Client
The Torrent Client is the software that will be associated with torrent files. This software will be the hub for your torrent downloading, keeping the information about the trackers, seeds and peers to allow you to connect to the peers with the parts of the Torrent you require. The client will keep track of what parts of the file you have and what you require to download. You cannot download torrents without a torrent client.
Seed
A seed is a computer which has the full copy of the file you are attempting to download. The more seeds that are available to you the quicker your download is likely to be. Once you have finished downloading a file completely, your computer becomes a seed until you break the connection from the swarm. It is considered good etiquette to continue to leave your client open to allow others in the swarm to finish downloading.
Peer
A peer is another computer on the swarm which hasn't yet got the full file. They are still able to distribute the parts of the file they do have so make a valuable contribution to the swarm, especially if the amount of seeds begins to drop then the peers try and piece the whole file together from the pieces that they have between them.
Swarm
A swarm is a group of computers connected to download a particular file. Swarms consist of both seeds and peers so if you are connected to 5 seeds and 5 peers the swarms consists of 11 computers (including yours). The swarm with the use of Torrent Clients work together to distribute the file to all members in the swarm.
Tracker
A Torrent Tracker is a server which assists in the process of peers downloading files. The tracker will send out information about what peers have what parts of the file and what seeds are available. Trackers are required to initiate the start of a torrent download and to refresh the list of peers and seeders. Once a connection has been established with a swarm however a download can continue without the connection to a live tracker. No new peers or seeds can be connected to.
Distributed Copies
Even without a seed an entire copy can be available via the collective parts in the swarm. This is possible because bit-torrents are not distributed sequentially. Different parts of the file are transmitted in different order to different peers. If a complete copy of a file can be achieved this is known as a distributed copy.
Share Rating
The share rating is a calculation to determine your contribution to the swarm in terms of data uploaded. It is calculated by dividing the amount of data uploaded by the amount downloaded. A ratio of 1 means you have uploaded as much as you have downloaded. Again common courtesy would be to leave the file active and act as a seed until your ratio on the file is at least one. Some private trackers can store this information in order to remove users who do not contribute to the rest of the swarm.