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sailing:torrenting [2023/12/05 13:32] – created willysailing:torrenting [2025/03/13 14:08] (current) – [Torrents, trackers and magnets] willy
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-Next to: +====== B) Torrents, trackers and magnets ======
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-====== Torrents, trackers and magnets ======+
  
 Torrents are the most "mainstream" way to download media content. This approach is based on //torrent// files that get shared between users: users will connect, via //trackers// to other users sharing the same torrent file. The basic concept behind torrenting is that the file you want to download is not stored on any server or anywhere on a centralized place on internet but instead every person who has a copy (or a partial copy) of the file is sharing it with the others who are looking for the same file. Basically is a decentralized approach to file sharing. Each user downloading (leecher) or sharing (seeder) the file is called a //peer// and the tracker can be used to find more peers. This has quite some advantages like: Torrents are the most "mainstream" way to download media content. This approach is based on //torrent// files that get shared between users: users will connect, via //trackers// to other users sharing the same torrent file. The basic concept behind torrenting is that the file you want to download is not stored on any server or anywhere on a centralized place on internet but instead every person who has a copy (or a partial copy) of the file is sharing it with the others who are looking for the same file. Basically is a decentralized approach to file sharing. Each user downloading (leecher) or sharing (seeder) the file is called a //peer// and the tracker can be used to find more peers. This has quite some advantages like:
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   * While it's possible to kill "public" trackers (but it has proven pretty difficult over the years) it's hard to do the same with private trackers   * While it's possible to kill "public" trackers (but it has proven pretty difficult over the years) it's hard to do the same with private trackers
   * Due to different laws and regulations, it might very well perfectly legal for you to torrent in many countries. But i am not a layer (and not YOUR lawyer) so YMMV.   * Due to different laws and regulations, it might very well perfectly legal for you to torrent in many countries. But i am not a layer (and not YOUR lawyer) so YMMV.
 +  * Torrents are great at locating niche stuff and less mainstream
  
 Torrents also have some disadvantages: Torrents also have some disadvantages:
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   * Requires a working port-forwarding setup to work reliably   * Requires a working port-forwarding setup to work reliably
   * It's easy to block or throttle by your ISP   * It's easy to block or throttle by your ISP
 +  * Torrenting can be hard on your network, since it requires lots of concurrent connections to be managed.
  
 The IP leakage can be prevented by using a good (as in safe, privacy oriented) VPN service, which usually has to be paid for. You also want a VPN with port-forwarding and be careful for DNS leakage. All things that you need to take into consideration in some countries more than others. Since this is not a concern where i live, i will not go deeper on this subject myself and leave it to you to cover your tail. The IP leakage can be prevented by using a good (as in safe, privacy oriented) VPN service, which usually has to be paid for. You also want a VPN with port-forwarding and be careful for DNS leakage. All things that you need to take into consideration in some countries more than others. Since this is not a concern where i live, i will not go deeper on this subject myself and leave it to you to cover your tail.
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 ===== Magnets ===== ===== Magnets =====
  
-Since torrent files contains +''"A magnet link is a hyperlink that contains the magnet identifier, file name, and cryptographic content hash in place of the . torrent file extension and mechanism. The content hash, which functions like an ISBN number, is computed from the contents in the file itself and can be used to track data across servers."'' 
 + 
 +Torrent files have been linked to piracy in the past, so the magnet links where introduced. A magnet link points to a swarm without having any internal reference to the file associated to it. This prevents public trackers to be associated with torrent files directly. You don't have to care for them since your setup will manage both magnets and torrents automatically. 
 + 
 +===== Trackers ===== 
 + 
 +Trackers are the key point of the torrenting. Trackers are the place where you can search for, and hopefully find, the swarms you want to join. Or, in other words, the files you want to download. There are two categories of trackers (no matter the content you want to find): 
 +  * Public trackers, where everybody can search and download torrents/magnets 
 +  * Private trackers, where you need to be a member to be able to search and download torrents/magnets. 
 + 
 +Public trackers are the easiest and can be found anywhere on the internet, you find the URL, you go, you search, you download, you start torrenting, you stop torrenting, that's all folks. Quality content might be limited, hard-to-find stuff might not be available and usually the number of seeders is limited, so more time to download. You can be a leecher on a public tracker, no problem. 
 + 
 +Private trackers are hard to find and even harder to get into, since you need to be invited and invites are hard to find (there are websited dedicated to private trackers invites too, go figure). After you manage to get in, you need to carefully read and follow the rules as many requires a "ratio" where you need to keep your torrents active for longer than it requires you to download. In other words, private trackers requires you to be an active seeder or, often, you can also pay money to the private tracker to be able to download without keeping the ratio. 
 + 
 +Advantages of private trackers are the quality of the contents, download speeds due to larger swarms, and often they are communities dedicated to specific arguments where you can find niche stuff and such. 
  
-Advantages of torrents:+===== Downloaders =====
  
-    It's usually free (some private trackers might require paiment tough) +After you have access to trackers, doesn't matter if public or private, you need software to actually download the files pointed by the torrents. There are many, and i will focus only on open-source linux downloaders which can be automated in your setup.
-    Very easy to access (public trackers at least) +
-    Music, books and audiobooks are easy to find+
  
-Disadvnatages of torrents:+The choices are: 
 +  * [[services:deluge|Deluge]]: great daemon-based downloader with a not-so-great web UI 
 +  * [[services:transmission|Transmission]]: great daemon-based downloader with great web UI 
 +  * [[https://www.qbittorrent.org/|qBitTorrent]]: preferred by many, but it requires Qt to be installed, which i don't want on a server, so it will not taken into consideration.
  
-    Require keep ration up (private trackers) which is IMPOSSIBLE if you don't have a public IP and port-forwarding 
-    Private trackers can be hard to get into and even harder to maintain access to (hit and runners bans) 
-    Are much harder on your bandwith, because you need to keep seeding, and also are much more connections-wise heavier 
-    Can be slow downloads 
-    Might need a VPN in some countries (DMCA, i look at you) 
-    Your ISP will know what you torrent 
  

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