For the uninitiated, there is a (not so) new P2P network called BitTorrent. It’s great if you want to download movies, software or games because it’s designed for the download of large files, spread over a large number of download sessions. I myself have downloaded a number of softwares, movies and Halo through this network.

Behind the Scenes/Inside the Softwar/Whateva…

Basically, Gnutella:LimeWire::BitTorrent:It’s clients like uTorrent, BitComet, and many more (Actually LimeWire in its latest release has added support for BitTorrent, but it ain’t as reliable as the original clients.

Now I’ll tell you how the network works. A person puts together a number of files and makes a ‘tracker‘ which he may put up on a torrent-hosting site like The Pirate Bay or Mininova. This tracker helps to…well…keep track of things. Who’s downloading, who’s uploading and all that stuff.

Now before you can download any stuff, you need to get a BitTorrent client. I’s recommend uTorrent, because it’s the one I use, and honestly…it’s the only one I’ve ever needed to use. DO NOT use the one which is bundled in LimeWire, or the one in ubuntu (sorry GQ). Once you’ve downloaded the software, you need to search for trackers. You can do that by either going to the tracker sites mentioned above, or like in the case of uTorrent, you can use the integrated search function. It automatically opens your default web browser.

ALERT!!! Be careful while opening the sites. Make sure that no one is around, because these sites may be advertising (adult) personals, or may have direct porn on them. Haven’t seen it myself, but I recommend using the 2 I mentioned earlier.

Once you find the tracker you need, download it and open it using your client. Oh, by the way, what you’re downloading is called a torrent. Each torrent will have a number of seeders and leechers (or to be more polite – peers). Seeders are guys who have the entire file downloaded and are uploading it (seeding). Leechers are people who are in the process of downloading it. They are also capable of sharing whatever part of the file they may have. So this way, contributes.

Another thing is that I’ve noticed is that more of large files can be found on the BitTorrent network than the Gnutella network. So you can put on your client and leave your PC on over the night (especially useful if your internet connection gives extra speed at night, like mine ).

Another thing is that as a leecher, you have a duty to upload the file as you are downloading it. In uTorrent, there’s a rule that your download speed is capped to 6 times your upload speed, if the upload speed it below 6 kbps. Actually, it doesn’t need to be above 6 because there are so many people supplying to so many people (I had once a total of 250 people connected to me), that each person just has to make a very small contribution to keep the network going.

I think that’s all you need to know to get you started. Go ahead, and start downloading.