What is a Torrent?

A torrent is a type of computer file. The .torrent file extension denotes a file that contains the basic information for another file or another set of files. The basic information stored in a torrent file includes the name of the file(s), the date of creation and a list of trackers (see below for more information on trackers). Every torrent file has a unique information hash, which means that no file (or set of files) will have the exact same information hash.

What are torrent files used for?

Because they store information about other files or sets of files, torrents are used to download these other files or sets of files. Although torrents can be used to download any type of file, the most popular uses of torrents are for downloading music or video files.

How do I download a file using a torrent?

Downloading a file by using a torrent requires two things: a .torrent file and a tracker. To find a .torrent file, you can use a torrent search engine. Three of the most popular torrent search engines on the Internet are isoHunt, Mininova and The Pirate Bay. You can use any of these free torrent search engines to find a file that you want to download. Once you find a file you want to download, you can download the .torrent file from the search engine. Because the torrent files themselves only contain information about the files to be downloaded, they are small (usually less than 30KB) and will download in a matter of seconds.

After you download the torrent file, you will need to open it with torrent software client. Two of the most popular free torrent software clients are uTorrent (compatible with Windows) and Tomato Torrent (compatible with MacOS). Once the torrent file is opened with the torrent software client, the downloading of the actual files will begin.

What is a tracker?

A tracker is a computer that is connected to the Internet. When the torrent file is opened by the torrent software client, the client connects to the tracker that is associated with the torrent. The tracker is responsible for managing the torrent files and tracking statistics associated with the files.

What are seeders and leechers?

A seeder is a person who has any percentage of the files associated with a torrent, while a leecher is someone who has no percentage of the files associated with a torrent but is attempting to download them. In addition to the size of the file being downloaded, the number of seeders and leechers will impact how long it takes for a file to be downloaded.

Because the tracker allows parts of the file to be downloaded from multiple seeders, the more seeders that are associated with a torrent file, the faster it will normally download. For example, a torrent file with hundreds of seeders and few leechers will download quickly, while a torrent file that only has a few seeders but lots of leechers will download slowly (or not at all).

Additionally, if there are no seeders for a torrent file, the files associated with it cannot be downloaded.

Is it legal to download torrents?

The legality of downloading torrents depends on the type of file that is being downloaded. If the file being downloaded is protected by copyright, it is not legal to download. However, if a file falls into the public domain (or the owner has given permission for it to be distributed), it is legal to download.