To talk about the history of the bit torrent protocol and P2P file sharing, you cannot just simply start off with the P2P protocol, but rather like many stories, you have to start at the beginning.

1972 marked the birth of the file sharing revolution. This first form of peer file sharing was aptly known as Sneakerner due to the lack of interne access at the time. Sneakernet was exactly as it sounds, one would place a file on a floppy and deliver it in person or via mail.

It would be 6 years latter at the birth of the internet era that the first BBS would become available in 1978. Although back then the sharing of actual files was harder than it is today, the concept was there. It would not be until 2 years later that the BBS would evolve into the Usenet thanks to the development by Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott at Duke University.

1985 however, marked an important year to the file sharing idea. It was this same year that the File Transfer Protocol or FTP would be developed allowing people to share files via a centralized server.

Three years later the Internet Relay Chat was developed and replaced the MultiUser Talk protocol allowing for faster communications with others, starting the need for faster communications, this eventually led to the development of what is known as the World Wide Web today as it was developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.

The next big thing in the file sharing arena was not PC, but it was Mac. Hotline was the file sharing network as it was introduced at the MacWorld Expo in 1997 and became the number one file sharing vehicle for the various Mac users around the world.

1998 marked the birth of MP3.COM as well as the release of the world’s first MP3 player which led MP3 Newswire to become the first digital media sharing website. It was with the birth of the MP3 and the need to convert music tracks to MP3 that would lead to the birth of the digital copyright infringement.

A year latter, Napster was to take the central stage as a completely illegal website that allowed someone to make a MP3 file of their favorite song and share it with others, this led to not just lawsuits, but several teenagers now have criminal records due to their downloading habits.

It was not until 2000 when the first decentralized file sharing network was developed. This decentralized network was the Gnutella-network and led to the birth of a new idealism in file sharing around the world.

Two years later, the bit torrent protocol would be debut to the world, and eventually take a choke-hold on the file sharing technology around the world.

Popularity: 94% [?]

Believe it or not, the bit torrent protocol is not old, not even in the standards of computer where you processor is out dated the minute you buy it. The protocol itself was originally conceptualized in the earl 2000’s and was released in the first working bit torrent client application in 2005.

Of course the first bit torrent client was the one that shares the name with the protocol itself. BitTorrent is the owner of the bit torrent protocol that can be seen almost anywhere and in virtually every possible programming language. There are some exceptions to this of course. Firstly, JavaScript cannot in any way shape or form be used to build a bit torrent client, it just cannot happen due to the rules of the programming language itself. HTTP cannot be used to make a bit torrent client neither since the client needs the ability to read and write. When discussing the possibilities of programming languages that can be used, the first thing that comes to mind are the web based programs. Since the protocol requires access to read and write, the only web based languages that can be used, are the ones that can access and write to databases. These include PHP and ASP as well as many other, but in no way can you use Java or JavaScript.

On the other hand, bit torrent clients for use on your computer is even more broad as virtually any program running on your computer can also read and write to directories on your computer.

Although the history of the bit torrent protocol is fairly short, it is in no way empty as there have been a number of important advancements in the development of the bit torrent protocol since its inception.

From simple to complete overhauls, the bit torrent protocol has come a long way in a short time period. New advancements in encryption capabilities as well as new languages to build the code on. Needless to say, as long as there is a want for file sharing, the bit torrent protocol will continue to be developed and advanced well into this century and hopefully then some.

To discuss the entire history of the bit torrent protocol, one would need a lot more space to do it in, but most of it can be found at the designer’s website. The BitTorrent program is the original bit torrent client and therefore almost all parts of the bit torrent history can be traced to various updates and releases of this particular bit torrent client application.

The bit torrent protocol as well as the many number of bit torrent client applications is vast and will continue to advance as new problems arise. Every time there is an attempt to stop the bit torrent protocol, it is redeveloped. ISPs want to stop bit torrent traffic so they attempt to throttle it, in response, new encryptions are made. This is the story of the bit torrent protocol, and as time goes by, it will continue to adapt to its surroundings and the needs of the network’s users.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Since the popularity of the bit torrent protocol is constantly increasing, so is the number of various technologies that have and will be built on the bit torrent protocol. One of the biggest improvement is the torrent tracker. Originally, when the bit torrent protocol was invented, one had to utilize a bit torrent tracker file. This has led to many attempts by various copyright authorities to take legal actions against the various tracker indexing websites, even though they do not actually contain any copyrighted material on them. In order to over come this, a new technology was built.

This new technology was the ability to have trackerless torrents. In order to accomplish this, the DHT was created. This DHT creates a unique hash key for each and every bit torrent file. This then got rid of the need for the torrent files except for the fact that some torrent software, use a different plug-in to make the hash keys. The keys then may be different and make it unable to be shared to anyone that does not use their particular bit torrent client software.

Another big change is the use of a virtual torrent in which your software sends an instant message to any other computer using the same software to tell them what files you are sharing. All of this of course had made the crack down on software, movie and music piracy much harder, but they can still find out who is stealing their intellectual data.

There was then the capability of sharing bits of data without the need of HTTP protocols. Utilizing an RSS feed, your bit torrent or P2P software announces the file that you have and who you are currently sharing with to the other users in the network. This eventually creates basically a full-mesh network with redundant paths between multiple file sources. Even if you cannot connect directly to that other computer, you can push USD to another computer that is connected with it and basically request that the other computer connect with you instead of vice versa.

Due to the simple fact that the bit torrent protocol and its traffic take up a substantial amount of an ISP’s traffic, there have been attempts to shut it down, so in response, you can now encrypt both incoming and outgoing connections. The ISP may inject TCP RST packets into the data stream if it suspects the transfers to be a bit torrent protocol and therefore slowing the connections down.

Then came the multitracker. The capabilities for a bit torrent client software to monitor multiple trackers of the same file in order to allow not just more connections, but also a sort of back-up incase one tracker gets lost, or worse, taken down by the force of the various copyright authorities.

As of right now, there are already many different technologies that have been built on as well as in conjunction with the bit torrent protocol. As times change and as there are more attempts to shut down the file sharing networks around the world, many more types of technology will be introduced in order to counter any attempts to shut the networks down.

Popularity: 2% [?]

It was Bram Cohen who came up with the concept of the bit torrent protocol in 2001. Even today, with all the various torrent client software available, everyone has heard of the bit torrent. The reason for this, is that Bram Cohen’s company is called BitTorrent and is also the holder of the intellectual rights o the bit torrent protocol used by many of the P2P client programs available today.

The goal, was to create a means to distribute large amounts of data without the original data distributor having to pay for the entire expense of hosting a website to get traffic as well as use bandwidth to allow your visitors to download the data. Another goal was to also increase redundancy as well as reduce the burden of the original distributor. It was a success. The creation of the bit torrent protocol, now allows anyone to be a distributor regardless of your income or financial standings. When you offer your data in the form of a torrent file, others can download directly from your computer, placing the bandwidth usage on the ISP and not your own. Then, once another person has the complete file, and a third person comes along, they can download from both computers simultaneously.

The goal is the same with any type of torrent software, They are all built with the basic bit torrent protocol in mind, but can literally be on any programming platform. There are some that are developed on Python and C++ as well as Visual Basic and more.

Regardless of the software platform used to build your bit torrent software, the basic bit torrent protocol remains the same. It allows you to connect with other bit torrent users, even if they are utilizing a different client. If you already have a bit torrent client and have already downloaded a file, then you may have noticed your “Peers” section which will show you all the computers that your computer is currently connected to. Some clients will even tell you which bit torrent client software your “peers” are using as well as they may even show you the flag of the country in which that particular IP address belongs to.

The bit torrent client is no where near being fully developed. They are undergoing changes almost on a monthly basis. As each new bug get uncovered, an update is released. It is very important to maintain your up dates. On top of all of this, you may wonder how it can still be in development even though you have a non-beta version already installed on your computer. The reason is simple. Unlike Windows who has been around for well over 10 years, the bit torrent protocol has been around for a fairly short time. The shortness of time that the bit torrent protocol has been in existence, coupled with the ever increasing pressure from ISPs and copyright authorities, the bit torrent protocol is in an ever-adapting form that is constantly changing as each new problem arises.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The number one peer to peer file sharing protocol available around the world today it the bit torrent class of client side programs. Developed by Bram Cohen back in 2001, it was released under an open source license and now is under the control of the BitTorrent Company while still maintaining its open source licensing.

The bit torrent protocol was developed as a means to be completely decentralized from the need of a storage server to keep the files. Although the various bit torrent clients programs utilize a significant amount of the internet’s bandwidth the actual numbers are unknown but may fall within the 75% arena.

There are literally hundred of different bit torrent client applications available and in many different programming languages. Each bit torrent client program is fully capable of requesting, making and transmitting basically any type of file through the bit torrents network from one computer to another.

Basically, if you want to share a file with another computer, you put the file in a folder and tell the client program to make a bit torrent. All that this does is it makes a .torrent file which contains meta data that tells other bit torrent clients how to find that file.

These .torrent meta data files basically contains an announce section which allows other peers to be found, an information section for the file name and any other information you would like to include, as well as the information of the file itself.

In general, the bit torrent protocol is a very efficient means of sharing files with many other computers around the world in a very short period of time. Once a file has been turned into a torrent, if it becomes a popular file, it could easily be available on thousands of computers around the world with a matter of days.

Another important component of the bit torrent protocol is that although it does not reward you for seeding the file after you have downloaded it, the protocol will punish you for not sharing. This is done in ratios. The higher ratio you have, the better chances are that you will continuously make fast connections and allow you download toy complete in less time.

All in all, the bit torrent protocol along with the various client programs that are available on many different programming languages is considered to be the largest community in the world consisting of over 100 million computers connected to the network. It maintains its stature in the file sharing industry due to it efficiency and large network. The larger the network gets, the easier it is to find the file that you are looking for, while at the same time, also speeds up the time in which it takes to download that file from many other computers.

The bit torrent protocol is not going anywhere anytime soon, the more people want to use it, the bigger the network gets and the harder it will be for the network to deteriorate.

Popularity: 1% [?]