By Jigish Shah:
All of us use Internet and download and share various files ranging from Office files to multimedia files and various other types of files,while sharing and downloading these files we often just click on download button and wait till it gets over, but now with the improvement and development in technology we can even have some better options. One such option is Peer To Peer Network which was initiated in 1999 by Napster.
Peer To Peer Networks, more recognised as P2P Networks; just require some basic configuration such as a computer , internet connection and a P2P software.The first generation of P2P software was Napster, a central server-based model that was eventually shut down. The second generation of P2P software is Gnutella and Kazaa, which are user-based models. BitTorrent became the third generation of P2P networks, In P2P networks the “Peers” are computer systems connected to each other, BitTorrent created a phenomenal development by creating new network for every set of files instead of a big server file.
Napster used one central server for its operations and the users were limited to a few options while sharing files such as office files and music files, however Napster was held liable for copyright infringement and shut down in July 2001. But they came back with a premium service where users had to pay for their services. Another protocol that emerged after Napster shut down was BitTorent. BitTorrent allows users to connect with more than one peer and download individual pieces from those peers. BitTorrent users voluntarily upload their files; this contrasts to other services like Napster and Gnutella that search your computer’s hard drive for files and make them available to anyone.
The most famous P2P Protocol is the BitTorent. Users need to install the software from the BitTorent website and then browse any torrent site and get their desired file downloaded. Due to this the copyright infringement cases came to rise as several movies, softwares, games, music etc. were released on torrent site and were distributed and downloaded illegally. According to a source, 650 Million users use Torrent clients daily, apart from this users need to pay attention to some terms before downloading a particular file.
1) You need to install a P2P client in your computer system before downloading any file from torrent sites.
2) After downloading & installing the software users need to go to desired Torrent site or Google it.
3) While downloading the file from the Torrent sites, users need to check the number of seeds and peers before downloading it (Higher number of seeds and peers to be preferred)
4) Select the bandwith option while downloading and select your upload & download limit as per your preference.
5) Users need to install a licensed copy of an Anti-Virus as Torrent sites may be infected.
Users while downloading any file from Torrent sites need to take care about copyrights and various other licenses and should not download any illegal files which may cause them any legal trouble. Users should take into account that they do not share any files which are copyrighted and they do not hold the rights of distribution. For a tist of Torrent sites you may google it.
PS:- I do not promote anyone to use torrent sites and their software or download or upload any files,the article is meant for EDUCATION purpose ONLY.