🌐 BitTorrent: Seeds, Peers & Leechers
A little bit about torrent that I learnt while erm… not-doing-illegal-stuff :D
🧪 Basics
- BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol for sharing large files.
- Files are split into pieces and exchanged between users instead of downloaded from a single server.
- Swarm health depends on the number of seeders, peers, and leechers.
📚 Key Terms
| Term | Definition | Notes / Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | A user who has 100% of the file and is uploading to others | More seeders → faster downloads; a finished leecher can become a seed by staying online |
| Peer | A user currently downloading parts of the file and uploading what they have | Partial downloaders; increase file availability for others |
| Leecher | A user downloading who may not upload back or uploads very little | Bad leechers stop sharing; ideally, leechers continue uploading |
| Swarm | The group of all users sharing a specific torrent (seeders + peers + leechers) | Healthy swarm = high seed-to-leecher ratio |
| Tracker | A server that coordinates peers in the swarm | Helps peers find each other; file transfer happens directly between users |
⚡ Quick Tips
- ✅ Check seed-to-leecher ratio before downloading for faster speeds.
- ✅ Stay online as a seed to help swarm health and availability.
- ✅ Peers should upload while downloading to maintain the torrent ecosystem.
- ⚠️ Torrents with few seeds can be slow or unavailable.
- ✅ Check seed-to-leecher ratio before downloading for faster speeds.
- ✅ Stay online as a seed to help swarm health and availability.
- ✅ Peers should upload while downloading to maintain the torrent ecosystem.
- ⚠️ Torrents with few seeds can be slow or unavailable.