HOW DOES TORRENT WORK?

Torrent is definitely not an unfamiliar tool among internet users. What kind of

technology is this, why did it become so popular and what are the things we need to pay attention to while using it? Today we will be trying to clear this kind of curiosity.

A series or movie went public on Netflix or Amazon Prime. You really want to watch that movie. From Nepal's perspective, first of all, you look for many options to view that content for free through the internet. In such a situation, many people, knowingly or unknowingly, are resorting to illegal alternatives.

Of course, if you ask for a Netflix or Amazon Prime account with your friends abroad at the beginning, you will definitely fulfill your desire. But in a country like Nepal, there are very few people who have such easy access. As a result, from a creator's point of view, torrent may seem like a piracy tool. However, Torrent was not started to increase piracy.

Torrent is a different technology in itself. Launched in 2001, the technology was initially designed for an etree organization. Who used to share recordings of live concerts with fans. At that time the internet was not as fast as it is now, the websites were just static. Sharing audio songs on the Internet was not easy. Neither server was as efficient as it is now. It took a long time to download even a small file. So to make it easier to share large files via the Internet, an American programmer named Bram Cohen developed Torrent. Many softwares such as U-Torrent and Bittorent are now in use as updated versions.

How does it work?

For example, if you search a website in your browser, you will find what you are looking for from the server of that website. Or if you are downloading a file, the file saved on the server will be downloaded to your device. But if millions of people want to download the same file at the same time, the server needs to be very powerful to handle that traffic, even if the speed should be high, otherwise not all users can see its webpage. So you have no choice but to strengthen the server. But the financial status of having a server does not belong to anyone except a company with a strong income. So it was not easy for people and companies with low financial status to share large files. Which was made easy by torrent.

For example, if a single user, has a document, music, game, movie or any other file. He wants to reach out to as many people as possible in any part of the world. But he don't have a server for that. At the same time he can use torrent technology.

The file he wants to share with everyone is on his laptop or mobile. In this case, he can go to any torrent hosting website and create a torrent of that file. When someone downloads the torrent he created, torrent client is added, then gradually the torrent client starts transferring the file from him to that person. At this time the file is being exchanged according to his internet upload and that person's internet download speed. When the file is coming to that person's system then the file also starts to be uploaded from that person's system. At the same time, if a third person downloads the file, he will now have access to download the file from two places. Now, as soon as the third person starts downloading, the three sources of that file are formed. The more people who download the file, the more they serve the server for the new user. This means that the more people download the file, the faster the file becomes available to the new user.

In this way, Torrent builds a vast network of one-to-one networks, allowing anyone to access the file at any time, from anywhere. In torrent technology the file is downloaded piece by piece. The file will be downloaded that much only, that it get from the source. From some source it will get head, from other it will get body and from another, foot. In this way a complete file will be downloaded. Torrent is so popular nowadays that it was more useful tool without any alternative when the internet was slow.

Torrent has two sides, one is seeders and the other is leechers. The one who uploads the file is counted in the seeders. When you download the file, you will see seeders number in the table. What this means is that the higher the seeders rating, the better your torrent file is. The other side is leechers. Which we also call Peers. Leechers are the ones who are downloading the file. After the file is downloaded, leechers can also become seeders. So when you download a file with more seeders and less leecher, the file becomes available at a good speed.

But if there are 2 seeders in a file, and 500 leechers, then it takes a long time to download such files. Having a low capacity server can cause problems such as slowing down websites and losing connections. Because there is very little uploading in it, the download speed is low and the system cannot handle it.

Another aspect of torrents is active seeders. Someone is downloading torrent and even after file is downloaded, if he do not shut down torrent, then files will be still uploading from his device which is benefiting everyone. If there are many such active seeders, the files will be downloaded quickly.

Torrent also has the option to select upload and download speeds for leechers. In this case, if someone increases their download speed and decreases the upload speed, then also he is being counted in seeders. But that torrent is being uploaded at low bandwith which is not considered healthy torrent.

We can download it for free by visiting the website of Utorrent or Bittorrent. Files can be shared and downloaded by visiting various torrenting sites like 1337x, yts, etc. But the law prohibits downloading any movie series or software without permission, which is something we all have to keep in mind. Similarly, it is better to use a piracy VPN when downloading torrents. Similarly, it is wise to scan the file after downloading. Because such torrent files may be accompanied by various malware, through which computer or mobile device can be easily accessible to other people. There is also the possibility of hackers while you are trying to find movies, series, games or software for free. That is something we need to be aware of.

Controversy over torrent is piracy. But this may be misunderstanding. Torrent is an amazing technology in itself that makes it easy for anyone to share their files and contents to the world of the Internet, using a simple device as a server. So running torrents properly is not against the law.

However, torrent is also being used for piracy. In terms of creators, this has led to huge losses. It is a crime to share or download movies or series via torrent without permission. But even the nations that are four steps ahead in every case with rights are not able to control it.