In today’s world people spend most of their leisure hours in watching movie, listening to music, playing games, sharing photos and videos. Torrent is the technology which has addressed this humongous transfer and sharing of internet data in a fast and efficient manner. However it is important to download torrents safely.
What is torrenting?
“Torrent” is a binary encoded file which contains the meta-data or information about the files the user wants to download. This data include the names of the files, the size of the file, the directory structure, the size and names of the pieces of the files. The “BitTorrent” which is a shared file protocol, uses the information in the torrent file and breaks down a large file to be transferred into smaller pieces. This protocol is designed to download the original file from the source and other torrent users.
How does torrenting work?
Usually there are multiple simultaneous users who use torrents to download the popular files on their workstations. The BitTorrent client protocol decentralizes this date transfer. Each file is divided into small portions called “pieces”. The file is then transferred piece by piece between different client or “peer”. A group of peers sharing the same torrent are called “swarms”. There are websites which are called “indexers” which provide information about torrents and they act as a repository where users can find, download and share torrent files. Downloading peers achieve high download speeds by requesting multiple pieces from different computers simultaneously in the swarm. Once received, these pieces are available for download by others in the swarm. Thus, the load on the internet is shared among the downloaders, rather than burdening on just one user.
How are torrents used?
- Download a “torrent client” compatible with the OS of your machine. There are many torrent clients available like Deluge, QBitTorrent or uTorrent.
- Look for the torrent file required to be downloaded.
- Specify the folder in which the user wants to download the files. Use the chosen torrent client to download it.
Is torrenting legal?
Torrenting is legal in countries like Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico where the material downloaded is not being used for any profit. It has been declared illegal in the USA where there are strict copyright laws and laws for safeguarding of intellectual property.
How to download torrents safely
Since there are strict rules based on the country from which the user is torrenting, care has to be taken that the download activity is anonymous and safe. Additionally torrenting should prevent viruses and ads from flooding your computer. The key is to safeguard the IP address, encrypt all internet access activity and scan the files again virus. “Cloudload” (https://www.cloudload.com) is great solution to download torrents safely. With speeds upto 10Gbps, it downloads files anonymously and safely on your computer after scanning it against viruses. You can also use it for uploading your favourite files for keeping safe. In addition the users can also use VPN or Usenet.
Hence surfers, movie watchers, video game players and music enthusiasts, bid goodbye to sluggish internet speeds and adopt safe torrenting.
