What is a torrent?

In today's article we will examine the concept of "torrent" - one of the most popular types of downloading and transferring files on the Internet. Of course, we will not go into the details of the process - we will look at it most superficially, so that it is clear to everyone. A distinctive feature of torrent trackers from file hosting services is that they only store information about the torrent and the launch file - the files themselves that are downloaded are located on the hard drive of the person who organized the distribution. Such a person is called a seed.

Those who download a file from the seeder’s computer via a torrent tracker using a torrent client (you can learn about them by reading articles on our website about MediaGet и uTorrent) people are called pirs. During the download, they can also distribute parts of the files that have already been downloaded.

Thus, the feast turns into a seed. When a peer downloads a file completely, it automatically starts distributing, becoming a full-fledged seed. The whole point of the torrent system is to keep as many seeds as possible. Unfortunately, many people simply leave the distribution, downloading everything they need and deleting the torrent distribution from the torrent client list. The reasons may be different, but, as a rule, it is simply a reluctance to clog up traffic.

And so, after several people downloaded the file from the host seed’s computer and remained on the distribution, there are more and more seeds, which increases the download speed for individual people. For example, if a person lives in Vladivostok, and the organizer lives in Moscow, the download speed will be quite low. But if the seeds begin to “move” along the map, transferring the Moscow file to Vladivostok will become much more accessible. We hope you now fully understand the essence of the concept of a torrent, what it is and with what, as they say, they eat it. Stay with us!