If you’ve heard about Pirate Bay changing its format from tracker to magnet links, DHT & PEX but, like me, didn’t know the technology behind or how magnet links worked, don’t worry because the crew at Lifehacker has answered all your questions.
Magnet Links Explained
Traditionally, .torrent files are downloaded from torrent sites. A torrent client then calculates a torrent hash (a kind of fingerprint) based on the files it relates to, and seeks the addresses of peers from a tracker (or the DHT network) before connecting to those peers and downloading the desired content.
Sites can save on bandwidth by calculating torrent hashes themselves and allowing them to be downloaded instead of .torrent files. Given the torrent hash – passed as a parameter within a Magnet link – clients immediately seek the addresses of peers and connect to them to download first the torrent file, and then the desired content.
It is worth noting that BitTorrent cannot ditch the .torrent format entirely and rely solely on Magnet links. The .torrent files hold crucial information that is needed to start the downloading process, and this information has to be available in the swarm.
Understanding DHT and PEX
DHT, or Distributed Hash Table, is a decentralized system that allows peers to find each other without the need for a central tracker. This means that even if a tracker goes down, peers can still connect and share files. DHT works by distributing the responsibility of storing and managing the torrent information across all the peers in the network. Each peer maintains a portion of the DHT, which helps in locating other peers who have the desired content.
PEX, or Peer Exchange, is another technology that enhances the efficiency of the BitTorrent protocol. PEX allows peers to share information about other peers they are connected to. This means that if you are connected to a peer who knows about other peers with the same content, your client can connect to those peers as well. This significantly speeds up the process of finding and connecting to peers, making the download process faster and more reliable.
Advantages of Magnet Links
Magnet links offer several advantages over traditional .torrent files. Firstly, they are more resilient to takedowns. Since magnet links do not rely on a central server to host the .torrent file, they are less susceptible to being taken down by authorities. This makes them a more robust option for sharing content.
Additionally, magnet links are more convenient to share. A magnet link is simply a URL, which can be easily copied and pasted into an email, chat message, or social media post. This makes it easier for users to share content with others without the need to upload and host .torrent files.
Moreover, magnet links reduce the load on torrent sites. Since the sites do not need to host .torrent files, they save on bandwidth and storage costs. This allows them to operate more efficiently and serve a larger number of users.
More information on Magnet Links, DHT, and PEX Peer Exchange can be found here
Via Lifehacker
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