BitTorrent
From Computing and Software Wiki
BitTorrent is a peer to peer file sharing protocol. The protocol works in a way such that there is not a single host distributing the file, instead, all users downloading the file also share in uploading as well. This reduces the burden on resources by the distributer as all users wishing to download the content are taking part in uploading pieces and parts of the data file.
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How It Works
The method allows essentially any kind of data to be distributed in a manor such that all users downloading the same file, referred as leechers, will upload bits and parts of the file that they have already downloaded. Users that have the complete file and still connected to the tracker are referred as seeders. The tracker is simply a list of all users that are currently connected to the torrent of interest. Users download "torrent" files that are created specifically for the file to be distributed. The "torrent" file contains an "announce" section that tells the bittorrent client the URL of the tracker.
