BiTtorrent 101: The Complete Guide to Filesharing

The new breed
Today, there's more choice than ever with P2P. If you're not interesting in jumping into the wild world of Gnutella, eDonkey and BitTorrent, you could take a look at the latest crop of applications that let smaller, like-minded groups share files in private. Specialised services are starting to pop up which let you trade, for example, just photographs, with Pixpo (www.pixpo.com) being an example. These services effectively turn your PC into an image server that lets you invite others to view or download your collection, without going through a central server.

In addition to individual files being passed among users, businesses can take advantage of P2P to collaborate on group tasks and share files among designated users. This can be a quicker, one-stop solution compared to the traditional use of VPNs, email and attachments. Groove Virtual Office (www.groove.net), for example, combines filesharing, instant messaging, and typical workflow management tools. Additionally, it not only cuts down on the amount of large emails passing between a group, but it also reduces bandwidth by only transmitting the changes made to a file, rather than the whole file itself. Groove is a good example of how a P2P backbone can be customised to different applications.

But to really get a sense of how far P2P has come, applications like Qnext, WASTE and Grouper shine as examples of all-in-one filesharers. In essence, these apps forego the larger world of P2P, instead focusing on private groups. Qnext (www.qnext.com), for example, not only lets you share files, but it bundles in private IRC chat rooms, remote desktop access, and even access to your MSN, Yahoo! or other instant messaging account. WASTE (http://waste.sourceforge.net) takes another approach entirely, offering heavy dollops of security rather than focusing on too many features.

With this recent flood of legitimate applications employing P2P technologies, and with Internet bandwidth being chewed up more and more with filesharing, the future is certain. While traditional uses of P2P networks have been dominated by the swapping of large scale, pirated content, applications like WASTE, Qnext and Grouper suggest many users are interested in sharing personal files with smaller, private groups.

The future of P2P networking
In August 2000, Intel's Chief Technology Officer Pat Gelsinger had this to say: 'The power of this model would be very significant and complementary to the business models we've seen emerge. Out of this early momentum, this technology foundation, we'll make a very bold suggestion today. That peer-to-peer computing could usher in the next generation of the Internet, much as we saw Mosaic spark the last.'

The key point here is not so much Gelsinger's prediction, but that business models would adapt to P2P technologies. Few could deny the immense power of technologies like BitTorrent as a distribution method, and private networks are opportunities to target like-minded groups of people. Games will be first off the block, with Steam and Blizzard already distributing their large, highly demanded files to thousands of users every day. In addition, software makers are already starting to offer torrent files of their applications to reduce bandwidth costs. Furthermore, there are many legal places to download files from. Legal Torrents (www.legaltorrents.com) is one example that lists media released under a Creative Commons license, which promotes sharing.

But what's really exciting is the potential use of P2P technology to form the backbone of television and video distribution to a wider audience. Warner Bros has recently announced it will launch a P2P service in Germany, recognising the need to combat piracy by providing a legal alternative, that's just as easy to use an open filesharing network. In the UK, the BBC has talked about introducing P2P technologies to distribute its online video archive to an Internet audience.

Ultimately, this is just scratching the surface of P2P. If the cost of distributing all forms of digital media is no longer relative to demand, then there's no limit to the size of the audience that content makers can reach. The proportion of illicit copyright material traded over networks will soon diminish as legitimate uses tap into its power. And for the millions of interconnected PCs out there - we'll never be too far from what we need. To say P2P is back with a bang is an understatement. It's about to go supernova!

The next step
The PCA labs team has rounded up the best Torrent clients to help you choose the best way to do your downloading. Be sure to read this to get the most benefit from Bittorrent!

In addition, the labs team has tested the very best Private file sharing applications. These allow you to create a private internet network with friends and colleagues for sharing files quickly and securely.

PCA Labs:

Torrent clients
Private file sharing