clipka wrote:
> nemesis schrieb:
> 
>> You're kind of paranoid, huh? ;)  You never really used bittorrent?
> 
> No Sir; up until this day and hour, I have managed to stay /far/ away 
> from it. So far that I have not much of an idea what it /really/ 
> actually is.
> 
It basically works like this. The host site has the complete file and a 
"tracker". The trackers job is to keep track of which people "it" knows 
are doing file requests, and can pass on that information to your 
client. Your own client will then connect to the tracker's FTP, if the 
fragment needed isn't available some place else, or to one of the other 
clients. This means that if *every other* client has a copy of all the 
fragments, the file server itself can sit idle, while transfers take 
place between the clients that already have a copy.

The trick of how this works is that each fragment has its own checksum, 
so, as a result, its nearly impossible for someone to insert bad data 
into their copy. Your own client will detect it automatically. While 
this does mean you need some ports open, to allow other people to use 
you are a source, they can't use that to get into your machine, or send 
you bad files, etc. Any errors introduced will be detected in the 
fragment by fragment checks, or the complete file checksum, which won't 
match, if they corrupted the data. In general, this means less bandwidth 
to the file server, more sources, so if one goes down, even the tracker, 
as long as you are already connected to other clients, you can still 
complete the download, and the only files "shared" are those that you 
are in the process of/completed downloading, or those, in the case of 
some clients that support it, which you "specifically" told the client 
to start seeding (which means you become the tracker/server for that 
file). But, since you have to tell someone that you exist, to seed the 
file as a main source and tracker, people can't just connect to your 
machine and start doing things. They *must* have correct descriptor file 
for what you are seeding, including checksum and file list, to even 
access it.

All in all, its pretty secure, much more stable than normal FTP, can be 
resumed at any time, as long as the file(s) are still being tracked on 
the server you request from, and you can transfer **multiple** files, as 
a set, instead of just single ones. Been a "lot" of times, especially 
when dealing with dipshits like Sony Entertainment, when I wish it was 
universal, instead of FTP. I mean, who puts up a 3GB download, for a 
game that "might" be run on a system with less than broadband, then 
makes the FTP server "non-resumable"? Hope to hell the connection 
doesn't drop, or a few packets time out, or you are right back at square 
0. I solved "that" issue by... finding someone with the Plantinum 
edition of the game and using bittorrent to get it, instead.

Its very safe, has more checks and double checks in it, to make sure you 
get what you should, than FTP does, and you only really need to worry 
about someone pulling the files form the tracker, before you finish, if 
you have to stop it for a few days. And that is usually only an issue 
with stuff you shouldn't be downloading in the first place. lol

-- 
void main () {

     if version = "Vista" {
       call slow_by_half();
       call DRM_everything();
     }
     call functional_code();
   }
   else
     call crash_windows();
}

<A HREF='http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?refid=16130551'>Get 3D Models, 
3D Content, and 3D Software at DAZ3D!</A>

Post a reply to this message