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BitTorrent
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{{Short description|Peer-to-peer file sharing protocol}} {{About|the file sharing protocol}} {{Duplicated citations|reason=[[User:Polygnotus/DuplicateReferences|DuplicateReferences]] detected:<br> * https://blog.libtorrent.org/2020/09/bittorrent-v2/ (refs: 12, 28) |date=May 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox software | author = [[Bram Cohen]] | developer = [[Rainberry, Inc.]] | released = {{Start date and age|2001|df=yes}} | latest release date = {{Start date and age|2017|02|04|df=yes}} | standard = The BitTorrent Protocol Specification<ref name="Protocol1.0">{{cite web|url=https://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0003.html|title=BitTorrent Protocol 1.0|last=Cohen|first=Bram|date=October 2002|publisher=BitTorrent.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208002821/http://bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0003.html|archive-date=8 February 2014|access-date= 1 June 2020}}</ref> | genre = [[peer-to-peer file sharing]] | repo = | website = }} {{File sharing sidebar}} '''BitTorrent''' is a [[Protocol (computing)|communication protocol]] for [[peer-to-peer file sharing]] (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the [[Internet]] in a [[Decentralised system|decentralized]] manner. The protocol is developed and maintained by [[Rainberry, Inc.]], and was first released in 2001.<ref name="BC">{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Bram |date=2 July 2001 |title=BitTorrent β a new P2P app |url=http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/decentralization/message/3160 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129085545/http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/decentralization/message/3160 |archive-date=29 January 2008 |access-date=15 April 2007 |publisher=Yahoo eGroups |df=dmy}}</ref> To send or receive files, users use a [[Comparison of BitTorrent clients|BitTorrent client]] on their Internet-connected computer, which are available for a variety of computing platforms and [[Comparison of BitTorrent clients#Operating system support|operating systems]], including [[BitTorrent (software)|an official client]]. [[BitTorrent tracker]]s provide a list of files available for transfer and allow the client to find peer users, known as "seeds", who may transfer the files. BitTorrent downloading is considered to be faster than [[HTTP]] ("direct downloading") and [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] due to the lack of a central server that could limit bandwidth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-19 |title=What Is BitTorrent and Is It Safe? |url=https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/bittorrent |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=www.kaspersky.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-06-13 |title=bittorrent vs HTTP |url=https://daniel.haxx.se/docs/bittorrent-vs-http.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613010209/https://daniel.haxx.se/docs/bittorrent-vs-http.html |archive-date=13 June 2009 }}</ref> BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, such as [[digital video]] files containing TV shows and video clips, or [[digital audio]] files. BitTorrent accounted for a third of all internet traffic in 2004, according to a study by Cachelogic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-the-one-third-of-all-internet-traffic-myth/ | title=BitTorrent: The "one third of all Internet traffic" Myth * TorrentFreak }}</ref> As recently as 2019 BitTorrent remained a significant file sharing protocol according to [[Sandvine]], generating a substantial amount of Internet traffic, with 2.46% of [[Downstream (networking)|downstream]], and 27.58% of [[Upstream (networking)|upstream]] traffic,<ref name="BitTorrentSW">{{cite journal|last1=Marozzo|first1=Fabrizio|last2=Talia|first2=Domenico|last3=Trunfio|first3=Paolo|title=A Sleep-and-Wake technique for reducing energy consumption in BitTorrent networks|journal=Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience|volume=32|issue=14|year=2020|issn=1532-0634|doi=10.1002/cpe.5723|s2cid=215841734}}</ref> although this share has declined significantly since then.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BitTorrent is No Longer the 'King' of Upstream Internet Traffic * TorrentFreak |url=https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-is-no-longer-the-king-of-upstream-internet-traffic-240315/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |language=en}}</ref>
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