P2P or Bit Torrent
P2P stands for "Peer To Peer", though some people interpret it as meaning "Person To Person". More commonly it is known as "Bit Torrent" - which is the term that we'll use here.
Bit Torrent is a method of distributing binary files across the Internet. Movies, MP3 music, and computer software are all distributed in this way. Bit Torrent is also for binary distribution but works in a much different way than UseNet (or News as it is commonly called).
Instead of having Usenet servers scattered across the world (as Usenet does) Bit Torrent uses a special folder in every PC that is connected to the Bit Torrent. This folder is (usually) called "Torrent". Bit Torrent does, however, have "Index Servers" distributed across the whole of the Internet. Each Index does what it says on the tin - it indexes all the files available against the address of each PC's Torrent folder that contains either the whole binary file, or part of it (the word "folder" can be used interchangably with the word "directory"). This means that as soon as a Bit Torrent "subscriber" starts to access a particular movie, MP3 or piece of software, then other Bit Torrent subscribers can start downloading that part of the file that has already been received. This leads on to two terms used in Bit Torrent - "Seed" and "Leecher". A Seed is the address of a Bit Torrent subscriber who has downloaded ALL that binry file into the Torrents folder. A Leecher is someone who has only downloaded a part of that file - bearing in mind that other Bit Torrent subscribers can download that portion of the wanted file.
I know it sounds a little complicated, but using Bit Torrent is very simple. Knowing just what a Seed is and what a Leecher is allows you to make a choice on which files to select to download - obviously selecting a file with a large number of Seeds will ensure that the file is downloaded relatively quickly. If a Bit Torrent subscriber chooses a file with no Seeds, but with a number of Leechers, it is possible to get stuck waiting for a particular missing piece of a file to become available when a Seed joins Bit Torrent.
I should perhaps mention that the word "subscriber" does NOT mean that you have to pay anything. A subscriber is someone who has the Bit Torrent program running on his computer (and, obviously, that computer is switched on and connected to the Internet).
The Bit Torrent program can be downloaded and installed from here.
For those who want to know more about BitTorrent and its use, a good tutorial is available here.
Please Note: Rhyl Online does NOT approve of, nor endorse software piracy. The information given on this page is for interest only. Rhyl Online cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of any inforation given on this website.