History of Computers - BitTorrent Protocol

BitTorrent Protocol

The BitTorrent Protocol is a Peer-to-Peer file sharing network created in 2001 by Bram Cohen.

Overview

The BitTorrent Protocol shares files through a P2P network that allows for higher download speeds at lower bandwidth. This is done through a "swarm" of downloads. Instead of downloading the entire file from a source, the BitTorrent Protocol downloads bits and pieces from multiple different people that already have the file at the same time. At the same time, the computer that is downloading the file is also sending the parts it has downloaded to other computers.

Currently, BitTorrent is used by companies like Facebook and Twitter to send updates to their servers. It's also used by companies such as Blizzard that send updates for their games through a BitTorrent system. BitTorrent is the most popular way of sending large files over the internet and currently takes up over half of the world's bandwidth dedicated to file sharing.

Significance

P2P networks like BitTorrent have allowed for files to be shared.