With the new emergence of the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing networks, there are many new capabilities to make your file sharing a more adventurous. For example, not only can the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing clients still operate in the old fashion to allow you to download almost any type of file, but you can also live stream.

Let’s take a look at the live streaming aspects of the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing clients. Let’s say that everyday, you favorite television show comes on at the same time. No let’s continue with this hypothetical scenario. Let’s also say, that around the world, there are many others who love that same television show, but can no longer get it on their television in their area. You can then simply plug your cable into that unused video input card, and simply stream that television show around the world with simplicity and ease thanks to the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing clients. To take it a step further, you could run the output of your stereo into the input on the soundcard of you computer and stream your favorite radio station.

Now I am in no way condoning the use of the peer to peer file sharing protocols for illegal purposes, but as a hypothetical situation, I have included these basically as an example for you. The people on the other end, could then tune into these streams just like watching a TV channel or tuning in a radio station on their home receiver.

The concepts of tree structures no longer exist in the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing networks, as they have all converted over to the bit torrent network’s style of swarm structures in the file sharing networks. This makes the ease of sharing simpler and more cross compatible.

But the question now is, “what client should you choose?” No one can answer this except for you, as each client has its own pros and cons associated with its use. Just like any of the previous generations, you and only you will have to try out the different peer to peer file sharing clients and networks till you find one that works for you. There are too many clients to list, since there are still many different networks to choose from and a plethora of different modified clients available for each network. Every time someone gets a client, but feels it may be missing some option, they then get the open source source code and make their own modifications to that source code then release it as a new extended version of the original program.

Popularity: 30% [?]

The concept of the swarm structure of a peer to peer file sharing network has stayed a constant since the 2nd generation of peer to peer file sharing protocols. When a use wants a file, they will go to a website and look up the file that they are in search of and download the tracker or .torrent file. From this point, the peer to peer file sharing client then connects to the URLs in the torrent tracker files and begins to make connections with various nodes around the world who have part or all of the file in question. The minute the client starts to make connections to other nodes or computers, then then join the swarm for that particular file. In general, the peers in the network, or leechers will trade file parts until they both have all of the pieces, or until they both are lacking certain pieces. It is only at this point that a client or node will begin to download directly from a seed.

It is for this reason that while downloading a file, you may be connected to multiple seeds for the file in question but may not be downloading directly from them. It is the basic hierarchy of the protocol which states the rarest files first. The main reason for this is the simple fact that seeds, especially the original seeder, should by now already shared a substantial amount of the file during the download itself. Because they have most likely met the basic share ratio of 1.5 to 1 they no longer need to be part of the general population of the swarm and instead, only give out pieces when there are none available, which technically should never happen.

This type pf hierarchy on the network is usually very efficient, except in the cases where certain nodes may choose o download certain files in certain orders. Although by default, a user is forced to download based on the rarest first protocol, due to the customizability of the particular peer to peer file sharing client, any user can choose which files to download in which order. A use can even decide to not even download certain portions of a file, or may choose to give higher priority to certain bits of file data based on how the file was broken down by the original seeder.

When we talk about the swarm structure of the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing networks, we have to go no farther than the previous generations. The previous generations of peer to peer file sharing networks have mainly focused on perfecting the structure of the file sharing networks, while the 4th generation began its focus on the one request that has been asked for since the 2nd generation which is the ability to preview the download as it is happening. Since newer technology and faster internet connections have become available, the ability to live stream a video of virtually any size has now been available making it a priority to the file sharing networks.

Finally the out cry for a previewable download in the peer to peer file sharing industry. This is not the first time that previews have been available as it was actually introduced in clients like Ares back in the 3rd generation, but was not very efficient at the preview process as it had a habit of jumping from piece of data to another piece leaving a virtually indistinguishable preview especially on smaller files.

Popularity: 16% [?]

It was 2005 when Gnutella was the third largest file sharing protocol in the world. Even today, Gnutella maintains their rank as the third largest regardless of the fact that FastTrack has declined and the bit torrent protocol has taken over. Gnutella was first developed back in 2000 right after Nullsoft was bought out by American Online. When the program was finished, its release date was announced on Slashdot and the first day it was available, people swarmed the site to download he client applications which were open source.

Due to the fact that AOL now owned Nullsoft, the day after the public release, American Online stopped the project completely due to the possibilities of legal implications. Thanks to the fact that this was released as an open source program, that one day was all that was needed. Within a matter of weeks, the program was reverse engineered and re-released as open source clones. All maintaining the original protocol developed for the Gnutella network.

It was in 2001 when Napster was hit for legal issues, many people left Napster as soon as they found out and chose an alternative. The number one alternative they chose was to use the Gnutella cloned clients. It was because of these Napster refugees, that the Gnutella network discovered its weakness when the entire network began to bottleneck, but thanks to the newly developed FastTrack, Gnutella was redeveloped to include their ultrapeer protocol which prevented future bottlenecks in the network.

By 2001 and 2002 both LimeWire and Morpheus were using the open source Gnutella protocol in their networks as it allowed for a semi-centralized network versus the fulle decentralized bit torrent protocol.

The difference betweek Gnutella and the bit torrent protocol, is that when a client side node is booted up, it searches for ultrapeers. Ultrapeers are nodes that maintain the information of other clients in the network. Basically an Ultrapeer is a client that is never shut down and therefore has a complete list of nodes in the network. It will then try to connect to a certain number of these nodes in the network until it reaches its quota of connections.

Once it makes those connections and compiles it own list, it then takes over the position of the ultrapeer, but only to those node in which it is connected to. Basically a first come first serve basis. The fist node online helps the other nodes connect to each other. From there, in order to build up the database of files, one client would d a search. In this search function, their client contacts only the nodes that they are connected to requesting that file, the nodes it is connected to then forwards the search to the nodes in its connection. Eventually the search goes through the entire network and the number of available sources is slowly reported back to the requesting client application.

Gnutella has come a long way and still maintains its standings in the peer to peer file sharing networks. P2P is here to stay and it is not going anywhere, so regardless of the program and protocol you choose, you are bound to find what you want.

Popularity: 6% [?]

File name: multitracker.doc | File type: application/msword Download File - Need Help?

Multi-trackers can be classified differently by two completely different types of people in the bit torrent network. The fist type of person is mush happier since a multi-tracker allows them access to a larger swarm. The second type hates it, because they may have released the file as a closed tracker, yet it does not stay closed as someone else may upload their .torrent tracker to a non closed site therefore making it open to the public. If you have ever downloaded anything with your bit torrent client and seen on the “general” tab that you are not allowed to “leech” only seed, that is because that is a closed tracker. Since you may have a 2nd tracker file in the list, you still make connections. Eventually, you will make a connection to someone who has access to that closed tracker and then make connections to the people on that closed tracker’s list through that one client.

Multi-trackers also take up more bandwidth as they require more time connecting to the internet to update the list of people with that file. But for those who download multiple files simultaneously, this should not be as big of an issue since you already have many, many, many connections already.

Those who like the multi-trackers also greatly out number those who prefer the closed trackers. Believe it or not, some people actually pay for access to a closed tracker site to download that same exact file that you are downloading for free. In general it is these people who get upset about the multi-trackers, but in most cases they are either new to the bit torrent network, or are loyal to that particular site.

Bit torrents are about sharing information freely amongst others, to pay for this right, is against what the bit torrent protocol was even designed for. This is ok though, some people just prefer it, while others believe that information that was intended to be shared freely, should always be shared freely. Especially in the case of copyrighted material. If you have a bit torrent client to download the latest movie for free, then why pay for it. If you are paying for access to a closed torrent site, then you might as well go to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy the movie yourself. It just seems… well odd that someone would pay for something they can get for free.

This of course is in no way the sponsoring of stealing intellectual data, but rather, bringing a point across, that things that are offered to the rest of the world to download through the bit torrent client, are done so in a manner that is considered to be shared freely, and therefore paying to access these files is sort of backwards.

The Multi-tracker is here to stay and so is the DHT dynamic hash key. They are all helpful to the spread of freely shared data amongst the largest community in the world today.

Popularity: 3% [?]

When speaking about the various bit torrent client software, the biggest issue that is always brought up is the limitations and security vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, a bit torrent client software does not offer any of its users any real form of anonymity. The ips of anyone who may currently or previously be included in the swarm for any particular file is available to almost anyone who wants it. The reason for this is plainly due to the tracker. Although the DHT, a trackerless form of sharing bit torrent data, has been introduced, many websites and torrent files, still today prohibit the use of a DHT.

A user of a bit torrent client software is vulnerable to possible attacks from any number of dubious hackers on the internet today.

There is also no way to give an incentive to share a file after you have downloaded it, so many people will download and simply remove it from their torrent folder. This eventually leads to a torrents death. Many websites today have attempted to prevent this from happening by keeping tallies of your IP addresses uploads and downloads. Unfortunately, many people today still share IP address and therefore cannot access certain files if many others that share their IP have not shared. This sort of becomes a catch 22. Most people do not like seeing that dreaded message “You may not leech, you may only seed” This then may cause someone to not want to seed since they were not able to access the tracker on that site.

Although there is no real incentive to seeding, the bit torrent client software does punish you if you do not seed. This comes in the form of the share ratio. A good share ratio is 1.5, this means that for every 1 MB you download, you have shared 1.5 MB with others, this helps the torrent files last longer. Many of the bit torrent client software will control the amount you can download if your share ratio is too low. Likewise, many tracker indexing websites may also perform in the same way. But unfortunately, if you sare an IP address with any number of people, there is the possibility that you will not be allowed to download from IPs listed at that indexing site due to any number of other users that may or may not have shared a file in the past.

The goal, is to help the file last longer. If you make a file that you want to share, firstly, make sure that it is a good copy. Second off, make sure that it will allow a DHT, this will help make more copies quicker due to the many bit torrent indexing websites that may be preventing others from accessing your file due to past users on that same IP address.

If you are good at making the torrent files, and they are considered to be of higher quality, you may just become famous. Many people when they look for a certain file, they also look for the collaborator who has offered that particular torrent. The reason for this is due to quality. I will not go into particulars, but you will notice certain names more often than others. When you then check these names with the number of available seeds, you will see that they are usually higher.

Just remember, that although you may have a firewall in place, make sure to add your bit torrent client software to its exclusion list, otherwise you may find a software program on your computer one day that you did not download, and cannot seem to get rid of. Never take down your firewall, only add exemption for your bit torrent client software in order to prevent this in the future.

Popularity: 2% [?]