BitTorrent

• Nan Dong (Mathematics)
• Shanshan Huang (MIS)
• Jeffery Gann (MIS)
• Vineeth Reddy Maryada (MIS)

date: 4/19/2016

• What is BitTorrent?
• BitTorrent Protocol
• Security
• Usage for Today and Future

BitTorrent

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer system that simplifies the transferring of large files (or groups of files) between a large number of people.

• how it works? link

A BitTorrent file distribution consists of

• An ordinary web server
• A static 'metainfo' file (.torrent)
• A BitTorrent tracker
• An original seed
• The end user web browsers
• The end user downloaders (client software)

• info: Describes the files & file structure
• announce: URL of the tracker
• creation-date: Unix epoch time of torrent creation
• comment : free form optional string
• created-by: optional string
• encoding: encoding format of the file pieces

• An HTTP/HTTPS service which responds to HTTP GET requests from the peers
• HTTP response provides:
• SHA1 hash of the .torrent file
• IPs and ports of available peer connections
• Optional latitude and longitude of peer
• Statistics

• Updates tracker to join swarm
• Sends outgoing peer connection requests
• Handles incoming peer connection requests
• Validates pieces with SHA1 hashes

• Can implement strategies

  Rarest-first strategy

  Closest-first strategy (Location-aware protocol)

• Assembles pieces into finished product according to .torrent blueprint

• Updates tracker to leave swarm

Privacy: The open nature of this peer-to-peer file sharing protocol means that anyone with the right tools and knowledge can dig into stuff like your home IP address or your download history.

Solutions:

• Use an IP-blocking application
• Add a middleman

For instance, a VPN will usually be faster than a proxy and offer traffic encryption by default, but losing your VPN connection can leave your IP address exposed to third parties.

1. No preview of files
2. Huge duty for seeder before file become popular
3. Occupied Internet source when upload files
4. No way to drop files for seeder when files become popular
5. Unauthorized distribution will cause illegal issues
6. speed issues
7. Allowed damaged or corrupted files exist
8. Increasing PG-R content over internet
9. “Transparent” for static IP user
10. No way to edit original content
11. Not easy to find old/unpopular files

• Game download and update: Companies like Blizzard entertainment are already using this protocol to download their games.
• Facebook and Twitter: Facebook and Twitter use BitTorrent internally to move files around.
• Government Uses: In 2010, the UK government released several large data sets showing how public money was being spent
• BitTorrent Sync: you install the client, choose one or more folders to share, and then link it up with other computers. Files anyone places in their copy of the shared folder are all automatically synced with all other copies of the shared folders.

• Downloading TV Shows, Movies and Music People mostly use the torrents to download Tv Shows and Movies. But networks like CBC and NRK are making their shows downloadable to people using BitTorrent.

• Netflix

Netflix is seriously considering adding support for peer-to-peer powered video streaming using the BitTorrent technology. Netflix is looking for Individuals with BitTorrent experience to implement the ambitious project. Netflix's data use is quite costly for the company and also results in network congestion and streambuffering at times. However, thanks to P2P-powered streaming these problems may soon be a thing of the past.

Many companies like Blizzard entertainment, CBC and NRK are already using this and companies like Netflix are trying to implement this seriously. We feel that many companies will adopt BitTorrent technology in future for their file Distribution.

Questions?