1.

Introduction

BitTorrent was created by Bram Cohen as a way to distribute large

files around a network. There is a lot of potential behind BitTorrent, especially for
people who need to distribute large files to Internet users. If you had a 1GB file and
there was 300 people trying to download it, it would take a lot of time to distribute
300GB of data for most people. So instead, you distribute the file in small pieces to
users who then share them around with other users until they have the full file. After
they have the full file they can continue to upload to other users to help them also get
the full file, this is known as seeding. The speed of Bit Torrent can be absolutely
amazing; with very large files transferring in a few hours. it was to help distribute
content quicker around an unreliable network.

BitTorrent is a free speech tool. You have something terrific to publish a large
music or video file, software, a game or anything else that many people would like to
have. But the more popular your file becomes, the more you are punished by soaring
bandwidth costs. If your file becomes phenomenally successful and a flash crowd of
hundreds or thousands try to get it at once, your server simply crashes and no one gets
it. With BitTorrent, those who get your file tap into their upload capacity to give the
file to others at the same time. Those that provide the most to others get the best
treatment in return.

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The Problem with Publishing:

More customers require more Cooperative distribution can grow almost

without limit, because each new participant brings not only demand, but also supply.
Instead of a vicious cycle, popularity creates a virtuous circle. And because each new
participant brings new resources to the distribution, you get limitless scalability for a
nearly fixed cost.

BitTorrent is not just a concept, but has an easy-to-use implementation capable

of swarming downloads across unreliable networks. Bit Torrent has been embraced by
numerous publishers to distribute to millions of users. With BitTorrent free speech no
longer has a high price.

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The BitTorrent Solution:
Users cooperate in the distribution

2. Bit Torrent files:

A popular file sharing service developed by Bram Cohen that prevents people
from downloading constantly unless they are willing to share in the overall
transmission load on the network.
Large Files Become Torrents Instead of downloading an entire file, Bit
Torrent breaks a file into chunks and distributes them among several participating
users. When you download a "torrent," you are also uploading it to another user. Bit
Torrent balances the load because broadband download and upload speeds are not the
same. Users download files faster than they can upload them, which make them less
interested in sharing bandwidth to upload to someone else. BitTorrent ensures every
user participates in uploading.
BitTorrent has become widely used for transferring huge program files as well
as pirated movies. In 2004, one estimate placed BitTorrent files as a third of Internet
traffic. Even if widely exaggerated, torrent traffic has been substantial, and the
software has made its mark

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File swapping systems have been architected in different ways as outlined in the
following illustrations:

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 BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution tool. The reference
implementation is written in Python. With BitTorrent, files are broken into smaller
fragments, typically a quarter of a megabyte each. As the fragments get distributed to
the peers, they can be reassembled on a requesting machine in a random order. Each
peer takes advantage of the best connections to the missing pieces while providing an
upload connection to the pieces it already has. This scheme has proven particularly
adept in trading large files such as videos and software source code. In conventional
downloading, high demand leads to

2.1 Sharing files

BitTorrent greatly reduces the load on the server, because the users generally
download the file from each other, not the server. As the colored bars below each
client show, the file is downloaded in random order, instead of sequential order.

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To share a file using BitTorrent, a user creates a .torrent file, a small "pointer" file
which contains:

• the filename, size, and the hash of each block in the file (which allows users to
make sure they are downloading the real thing)
• the address of a "tracker" server (which is discussed below)
• And some other data.

The torrent file can then be distributed to other users, often via email or placed
on a website. The BitTorrent client is then started as a "seed node", allowing other
users to connect and commence downloading. When other users finish downloading
the entire file, they can optionally "reseed" it--becoming an additional source for the
file. One outcome of this approach is that if all seeds get taken offline, the file may no
longer be available for download, even if the torrent file is possessed. Downloading
with Bit Torrent is straightforward. Each person who wants to download the file first
downloads the torrent and opens it in the BitTorrent client software. The torrent file
tells the client the address of the tracker, which, in turn, maintains a log of which
users are downloading the file and where the file and its fragments reside. For each
available source, the client considers which blocks of the file are available, and then
requests the rarest block it does not yet have. This makes it more likely that peers will

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have blocks to exchange. As soon as the client finishes importing a block, it hashes it
to make sure that the block matches what the torrent file said it should be. Then it
begins looking for someone to upload the block to.

Though BitTorrent is a good protocol for a broadband user, it is less effective

for dial up connections, where disconnections are common.

2.2 Web seeding

One recently implemented feature of BitTorrent is web seeding. The

advantage of this feature is that a site may distribute a torrent for a particular file or
batch of files and make those files available for download from that same web server
application; this can simplify seeding and load balancing greatly once support for this
feature is implemented in the various BitTorrent clients. This feature is an unofficial
one, created by the author of a specific third-party client.

2.3 Pre - BitTorrent

BitTorrent on its own is a protocol to enable file-downloading. When used in

conjunction with directory style websites, BitTorrent becomes a powerful tool
enabling users of the system to share large files. The users of the system download the
files from each other but they rely on a centralized system in order to do this.

2.1 File Sharing (Pre - Bit Torrent)

A computer network is a system for communication among two or more

computers allowing exchange of traffic back and forth between them. The Internet is
an interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world via
the TCP/IP protocol

One of the most popular uses of the Internet is file downloading. This method
was restricted by the number of people attempting to download files from the server.
P2P file-sharing is a more efficient way of downloading high-bandwidth material like
music and video.

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 In order for a P2P application to be successful the system should adhere to
several criteria

It should have a high availability of different files

1. The content should be of good quality

2. High download speeds should be available

3. The Bit Torrent Protocol

Illustration of the BitTorrent Protocol

the green blocks represent fully downloaded chunks, available for
upload. The red blocks are the blocks currently being downloaded? Each
peer can upload only two blocks at a time.

In BitTorrent, a file is split into chunks, typically of the order of a thousand

chunks per file. To download a complete file, a user downloads different chunks of

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the desired file from other users. The chunks are not downloaded sequentially, but are
based on the rarity of the chunk at that time. This method of splitting a file into many
pieces greatly facilitates the sharing of large files such as MPEGs and software
applications.

A seed seed is a computer that has a complete copy of a particular file,

whereas a peer is one that has a partial copy. In order to download this file, one must
simply procure the .torrent file. torrent refers to the metadata available from a web
server about the file you wish to download - typically the filename, size, and the hash
of each block in the file and the address of a tracker server The .torrent file is sent to
the downloader's computer when they click on a link and it can be used for
downloading via BitTorrent. When a client finishes downloading from a seed, it will
remain open until it is closed or the finish' button is clicked.

The .torrent file is not stored on the website itself but is distributed among a
number of tracker servers. These servers store a global registry of all the
downloader’s and seeds of the corresponding file. When a user wishes to start
downloading, they click on a link from the website to a .torrent file. The tracker server

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responds to the users request by sending back a list of other users that have (part of)
the file.

The above graph deals with another aspect of BitTorrent. Here the horizontal
axis represents the number of seeds for a file after its injection into mainstream traffic.
The vertical axis shows how long the file needs to stay available so that a given
number users can download it.

As the number of seeds increases, the lifetime of the file dramatically declines.
The attraction to becoming a seed is low because all upload capacity is used for
distribution of one file. Obviously, as the number of seeds increases, not only are you
a seed for a shorter time, but the bandwidth used for uploading this file is reduced.
Even though, as time goes by the number of seeds for a particular file decreases, the
file is available so long as there is at least one seed available.
When no seeds are available, a user with the complete file must come in and act as the
newseed. This is known as reseeding. A Swarm is a term given to a group of
computers, potentially including both seeds and Peers that are connected for a
particular file.

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 Choked is a term from the BitTorrent protocol which indicates a state an up
loader is in if it refuses to send anything on that link. It is used when the choked flag
is in use, to let it be known that whenever possible, a connection is wanted.
Snubbed is term from the protocol that indicates that a client has not received
anything for a substantial period of time. It is used to improve download speeds

The above graph displays measurements taken during a study on the tolerance
of BitTorrent to the "Flash Crowd Effect". The blue line shows the number of
downloads of the tracker for "Lord of the rings 3" from "FutureZone.TV". The red
line signifies the number of seeds for the file.

For the first five days, "FutureZone.TV" was the only seed, causing the
sustained high download rates. As the number of seeds increases, the download rate
dropped for the website. Notice that a small increase in the number of seeds
dramatically decreases the load on the provider. From these results, it can be
concluded that bit torrent is well capable of handling large, sudden crowds.

3.1 Decentralization

Traditionally, the bit torrent model has relied on a small number of centralized
servers to provide the trackers for specific files. There is an inherent problem with this
model. If any number of servers go down, this places an extra Burdon on the
remaining few. Although this has been shown that this is difficult to do, it is also a
common fact that a determined hacker usually finds a way. When a popular new file
is introduced by a seed there can be a large surge of simultaneous downloads from
this source. Since the infrastructure is not there to oversee the file sharing, this file
may well infect many machines. Another problem that may arise is obtaining the
torrent.

3.2 Pure Decentralization with the Overhaul Protocol

When a file is large it is better to divide it into separate chunks. One way of
doing this is using Overhaul. Overhaul changes the HTTP of an overloaded server so
it acts like a peer to peer network. It splits up the requested document into n chunks.

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Each request results in a response that includes the itch chunk and the IP address of m
other clients accessing the document. A signature for each of the n chunks is also
provided in the header. A client supporting Overhaul connects to other clients to
retrieve the remaining chunks. This saves bandwidth utilized by a regular fetch. By
transferring only a small portion of the document, the Overhaul process frees up the
server to satisfy requests from other clients.

fig:3

3.3 The Overhaul Protocol

An example is shown above; four client request for the same document off the
server. The server becomes overloaded and goes into Overhaul mode, where it splits
the document into chunks and distributes these amongst the clients. The client
collaborate to merge the chunks together so that each can form a coherent document.
This is different to BitTorrent which is a specialized tool for distributing large files
over existing peer to peer networks, (the Internet). Also BitTorrent requires a

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dedicated tracker and meta-info file for each requested document, resulting in extra
traffic to the server.

4. peer-to-peer

A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on

computing power at the edges (ends) of a connection rather than in the network itself.
P2P networks are used for sharing content like audio, video, data or anything in
digital format. P2P network

A pure peer-to-peer file transfer network does not have the notion of clients or
servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both "clients" and
"servers" to the other nodes on the network. This model of network arrangement
differs from the client-server model where communication is usually to and from a
central server. A typical example for a non peer-to-peer file transfer is an FTP server.
One user uploads a file to the FTP server, then many others download it, with no need
for the up loader and downloader to be connected at the same time.

4.1 Types of P2P net woks:

Three major types of P2P network are:

a) Pure P2P:

• Peers act as clients and server

• There is no central server
• There is no central router

b) Hybrid P2P:

• Has a central server that keeps information on peers and responds to requests
for that information.
• Peers are responsible for hosting the information as the central server doesn't
store files, for letting the central server know what files they want to share and
for downloading its shareable resources to peers that request it.

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 • Route terminals are used addresses, which are referenced by a set of indices to
obtain an absolute address.

c) Mixed P2P:

• Has both pure and hybrid characteristics

4.2 Attacks on Peer-to-peer networks

Many peer-to-peer networks are under constant attack by people with a variety
of motives.

Examples include:

• poisoning attacks (providing files whose contents are different than the
description)
• denial of service attacks (attacks that may make the network run very slowly
or break completely)
• defection attacks (users or software that make use of the network without
contributing resources to it)
• insertion of viruses to carried data (e.g. downloaded or carried files may be
infected with viruses or other malware)
• filtering (network operators may attempt to prevent peer-to-peer network data
from being carried)
• identity attacks (e.g. tracking down the users of the network and harassing or
legally attacking them)

5. Functions:

BitTorrent is a file sharing system. Its official software is cross-platform and

is extremely simple to install and use. It includes a window that appears as a regular
download window but includes a rate for download and upload. BitTorrent is open-
source and does not contain spyware.

5.1 Torrent Files

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 The torrent system is based on small, easily exchanged Torrent files. These
file have a file name followed by .torrent and are usually only a few kilobytes in size
yet allow gigabytes of information to be downloaded. Increasingly used by Web sites
that do not have the capacity to handle massive downloads, BitTorrent is estimated by
some sources to make up between 50 and 85 percent of all Internet traffic.

5.2 How it Works

BitTorrent connects to multiple other users who are downloading the same
file, speeding up the process for everyone. This type of interaction is called a multi-
source system growing popular in p2p where files begin sharing before fully
downloaded. Any file downloaded by BitTorrent is then checked against a hash file
contained in the torrent to confirm its integrity. This eliminates many of the problems
with false file exchanges, so long as one trusts a file's source.

Arguably the most successful P2P-based file distribution system, BitTorrent's

success goes way beyond simple warez and ex-Napster music downloaders, enabling
access to much-requested high-volume data such as with Web-based independent
movies and the free software community.

5.3 Using BitTorrent

Once you have downloaded and installed the client, for a variety of software,
music, and data distributed via BitTorrent. When you have found a ".torrent" file,
your browser should automatically start BitTorrent and begin downloading. If it does
not, save it somewhere on your computer and click twice on the file. A download box
should appear.

When your download has completed, wait to click "finish" for as long as
possible. This allows the file to continue uploading even after you have the entire file
and assist others in downloading as well.

5.4 BitTorrent's power

BitTorrent is a solution for Web sites that cannot handle massive traffic but
must distribute an enormous amount of information.

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 As is common, downloaders have varying connection speeds of T1, DSL, and
dial-up but the server in this example can only upload 20 kilobytes per second to any
one outside computer. With hundreds of requests, either some will be denied or get 1
kilobyte per second. This will take weeks to distribute to hundreds of people.

Until file sharing systems, the only other option was shipping the music using
postal mail or moving to an expensive, high-end server, not possible for most users.
With BitTorrent, one person on a slow network can distribute the contents of a regular
compact disk (~700 megabytes) to hundreds or even thousands in a matter of hours -
not weeks - because everyone shares whatever they receive. A tiny amount of data
can be downloaded and then exchanged among all users because higher-bandwidth
users assist lower-bandwidth users and everyone hands back to everyone else; users
upload files while simultaneously downloading them.

5.4.1 BitTorrent or direct-download

When choosing between the download of a file directly from its Web site or an
available BitTorrent link you should choose depending on time of day .

BitTorrent - more effective during peak Internet usage times - usually 6-9
P.M. weekdays - as the program scales inversely to the demand, making download
speeds quite high.

Direct Download - more effective during low-usage times - such as 3 a.m. on a

Sunday - the download it from the Web site option may be faster since the Web site's
traffic is quite low.

5.4.2 Other uses for BitTorrent

1. Files gained over other file sharing systems can be checked using BitTorrent for
integrity.

2. share files gathered over direct-download are often identical to those gained over
BitTorrent and can then be shared.

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3. BitTorrent checksums can be included on a CD to later test archives for an accurate
burn

5.5 Bit Torrent Versus other types of file sharing

5.5.1 Positive

BitTorrent software and ".TORRENT" files are very small and easy to download and
host.

Files have an included hash system to make sure they're fully downloaded and all
portions of the file are accurate.

Simplicity - other file sharing systems have so many other features.

It forces you to share and go faster at the same time, so the community
benefits from it.

5.5.2 Negative

An intense focus on simplicity that also means lack of features, for instance no
built-in search capability. After a file downloads, the network continues to share it as
part of those users' "shared" folders.

Resource-intensive - slower machines (400mhz or less) may experience a

performance hit while running BitTorrent.

5.6 Distributed File Sharing Using Bit Torrent

BitTorrent is a file sharing system that minimizes the role of the central server,
thereby enabling many more users to share or acquire large files. Distributed file
sharing thus avoids the problems often encountered when popular files are
downloaded through FTP or HTTP protocols, namely that the servers become
overloaded, slow down, and refuse connections. BitTorrent clients are available for
Linux, Windows, and OS X.

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5.6.1 Multi-Source

Multi-Source is generally used in peer-to-peer applications where a client can

download pieces of a file from more than one source (user) at a time. This may also
be called hive downloading but is in fact a different term; hive downloading is
simultaneous download and upload to and from multiple sources.

6. Files
6.1 Peer-To-Peer File sharing

Another file-transfer method that you may have heard about is called peer-to-
peer file sharing. In this process, you use a software program to locate computers that
have the file you want. Because these are ordinary computers like yours, as opposed
to servers, they are called peers. The process works like this:

• You run peer-to-peer file-sharing software on your computer and send out a
request for the file you want to download.
• To locate the file, the software queries other computers that are connected to
the Internet and running the file-sharing software.
• When the software finds a computer that has the file you want on its hard
drive, the download begins.
• Others using the file-sharing software can obtain files they want from your
computer's hard drive.

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Gnutella's peer-to-peer downloads process

The file-transfer load is distributed between the computers exchanging files,

but file searches and transfers from your computer to others can cause bottlenecks.
Some people download files and immediately disconnect without allowing others to
obtain files from their system, which is called leeching. This limits the number of
computers the software can search for the requested file.

6.2 What Bit Torrent Does

Unlike some other peer-to-peer downloading methods, Bit Torrent is a protocol

that offloads some of the file tracking work to a central server (called a tracker).
nother difference is that it uses a principal called tit-for-tat. This means that in order to
receive files, you have to give them. This solves the problem of leeching -- one of
developer Bram Cohen's primary goals. With BitTorrent, the more files you share
with others, the faster your downloads are. Finally, to make better use of available
Internet bandwidth (the pipeline for data transmission), Bit Torrent downloads
different pieces of the file you want simultaneously from multiple computers.

• You open a Web page and click on a link for the file you want.

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• Bit Torrent client software communicates with a tracker to find other
computers running Bit Torrent that have the complete file and those with a
portion of the file
• The tracker identifies the swarm, which is the connected computers that have
all of or a portion of the file and are in the process of sending or receiving it.
• The tracker helps the client software trade pieces of the file you want with
other computers in the swarm. Your computer receives multiple pieces of the
file simultaneously.

Here's how it works:

Bit Torrent’s peer-to-peer download process

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 If you continue to run the BitTorrent client software after your download is
complete, others can receive .torrent files from your computer.

Downloading pieces of the file at the same time helps solve a common
problem with other peer-to-peer download methods: Peers upload at a much slower
rate than they download. By downloading multiple pieces at the same time, the
overall speed is greatly improved. The more computers involved in the swarm, the
faster the file transfer occurs because there are more sources of each piece of the file.
For this reason, BitTorrent is especially useful for large, popular files.

6.3 How to Download Files with BitTorrent

To use BitTorrent for file downloads, you need to install the BitTorrent client
software. You may also need to tweak your firewall and network router to accept Bit
Torrent files. We'll give you all the details to get started. But first, here's a synopsis of
the steps:

1. Download and install the BitTorrent client software.

2. Check and configure firewall and/or router for BitTorrent (if applicable).
3. Find files to download.
4. Download and open the .torrent pointer file.
5. Let BitTorrent give and receive pieces of the file.
6. Stay connected after the download completes to share your .torrent files with
others.

6.4 Check and Configure Firewall

If you have a firewall installed on your computer, you will obtain faster
download rates if you configure it to have an open pathway for BitTorrent file
transfers. A firewall protects your system from intruders by disallowing unauthorized
access to your computer's ports. A port is a way for Internet communications to travel
into and out of your computer. Ports are numbered, and each communication type has
a standard port number.

BitTorrent also uses specific port numbers, normally ports 6881 through 6889.
Because firewalls block these ports by default, you'll need to configure your firewall
to accept this incoming traffic in order to receive .torrent files. You may also have to

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enable port forwarding of your computer's IP address for ports 6881 through 6889 so
that other Bit Torrent computers can find you.

6.5 Traditional Client-Server downloading

To understand how Bit Torrent works and why it is different from other file-
serving methods; let's examine what happens when you download a file from a Web
site. It works something like this:

• You open a Web page and click a link to download a file to your computer.
• The Web browser software on your computer (the client) tells the server to
transfer a copy of the file to your computer.
• The transfer is handled by a protocol , such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

Client-server download process

The transfer speed is affected by a number of variables, including the type of

protocol, the amount of traffic on the server and the number of other computers that

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are downloading the file. If the file is both large and popular, the demands on the
server are great, and the download will be slow.

7. Conclusion

Bit Torrent was conceived as a way of distributing large file more quickly,
efficiently, and reliably. The download of large file has become more feasible, and
people have become accustomed to acquiring video through the net. At this point it is
virtually impossible for anyone to bring an end to illegal downloads.
BitTorrent is a peer –to-peer file sharing system that is quickly becoming the
method of choice for publishing and sharing large files across the internet. It is
distinct from other p2p programs, such as lime wire and Kazak, in that break down
files into smaller packets of information, generally 256KB, and uses a protocol.
As it can be seen Bit Torrent may be ushering in a new paradigm in
downloading. At the moment it’s the cheapest and one of the fastest ways to share
large files in the mainstream medium - the internet
Even if this application of protocol (Free downloads) were to come to an end,
through a business agreement only cause BitTorrent to have an even greater overall
social impact. Illegal distribution of films online has already affected the film
industry, affecting box-office ticket and home video sales. However, if movie studios
were to actually transition to online distribution,it could completely transform the
business of cinema.

References

1. www.bittorrent.com.
2. http://www.bittorrent.com/
3. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent
4. http://www.infoanarchy.org/wiki/index.php/Multi-Source
5. www.wordspy.com.

Magazines

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 IT Magazines
CSI Magazines
Enadu News Paper (Thursday)

Characteristics of P2P systems

We base our treatment of BitTorrent on the following five characteristics:

1. The popularity of a P2P system is understood as the total number of users

participating in it over a certain period of time.
2. The availability is of paramount importance in P2P systems. As these systems
have no (or sometimes only a few, such as in BitTorrent) central components,
the operation generally depends on voluntarily contributed resources, which
easily leads to low system availability.
3. The download performance determines the relation between the size of a file
and the time needed for downloading it.
4. Several aspects of the content provided by a particular P2P network are very
important to its users, such as the amount and types of content it provides.
However, in this paper we focus in particular on the content lifetime, which is
the time period that a file can actually be retrieved from the system, that is, the
period from when it is injected into the system until none of the peers in the
system is willing to share the file anymore. Another dynamic aspect of content
is the content injection time, which is the time period between the first official
release of the content anywhere in the world (e.g. a movie release) and the
moment it is injected into a P2P system.
5. The pollution level of a P2P system is defined as the fraction of corrupted or
wrong content. All files on P2P networks are voluntarily provided, and there is
usually no authentication or verification of their contents. Therefore, anybody
can, either intentionally or unintentionally, upload files with incorrect names
or corrupted contents (e.g. fake copies of songs), which may subsequently
spread throughout the system.

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