On 22 Jan 2007, at 09:35, Anne Coleman wrote: > Thanks Richard! > Light begins to dawn. Could I download it with mp3 rocket which I use > to get peer-to-peer music? It reputedly handles video.
I don't know mp3 rocket, but it's unlikely unless it is specifically designed to function as a torrent client. Torrents are not straightforward file downloads. A .torrent file that you obtain initially, describes, amongst other things, the size of the pieces into which the file is broken up for transmission. It also defines the "tracker" - the server that keeps track of the clients wanting the file. However, clients also acts as servers for pieces of the file, so a new client can come along and request pieces of the file from any of the other clients that have already downloaded it (the tracker, err, tracks this...). Thus the original source of the file (the "seed") is not overloaded with download requests - you get pieces of the file from any client (known as the "swarm") that has already got it and is offering to serve it up. Your client application stitches all the parts back together again for you. Acquisition of the file is truly distributed amongst many computers and across many internet connections. In practice, the more clients there are actively downloading the more effective torrents are. Waterworld is not a high- demand download (13 clients approx as I type, for episode 3) and it has taken just under 24 hours now to get about three- quarters of each episode. 'Trickle' would be a more accurate description :-) Part of the limitation is that client applications try to match your download bandwidth to your upload bandwidth to balance the "swarm", and as most broadband connections in the UK are based on ADSL (the 'A' stands for asymmetric) the typical upstream connection speed is just a fraction of the downstream connection speed. Cable broadband and DSL (found mostly in the US) doesn't suffer from this drawback. -- Andy Greener n.b. Whisper Pangbourne, UK http://www.nb-whisper.com "The human brain starts working the moment you are born, and never stops until you stand up to speak in public."
