It's back to school time and we have prepared a complete roundup of what you need to know when returning to school. You now have to surf the net and share files with a new "man" keeping an eye on you, the campus network administrator. P2P software and file-sharing is a whole new ballgame. Well to help you in your new and unfamiliar surroundings so that you can get an easy start on things and have more free time to do other stuff besides bang on the keyboard in frustration, we are brining to you a series called Filesharing 101. What we'll be covering is everything from start to finish, from choosing the best method of P2P file-sharing to the associated software and troubleshooting forums to make it a smooth ride all around. Check out our Guide Section for a complete breakdown of the most important help topics. I've Installed and set up BitTorrent now what?
I'm Having Problems Getting Started, I'd Like to Learn More What is P2P file-sharing all about?First off, there's 2 basic categories of file-sharing. There's a "start to finish" method which downloads in a linear fashion from a single person. The benefit of this method is that it is very easy to use, as you just install the program and then simply type in the search query what it is you're looking for. It's pretty basic and thereby the method of choice for those that know little about computers or wish to spend little time trying to figure it out. The second method is called BitTorrent, which downloads pieces of data data from multiple people at once and reassembles it into the original file. The benefit and the beauty of BitTorrent, obviously, is that you get much, much faster download speeds. Not to mention the fact that it also is a way of keeping you off of the networks that the RIAA and MPAA regularly monitor in search of their next victim. It easily the safest method of the two. Linear, "start to finish" methodNow there's several different networks, which are outlined as follows, with the most popular of them each described afterwards. GnutellaLimeWire, Gnucleus, BearShare, Acquisition, Cabos FastTrackKaZaA Lite, KaZaA, iMesh, KaZaA Lite Resurrection, K-Lite eDonkey2KEmule, eDonkey, xMule, aMule, Lphant Shareaza has features that are unheard of in other file-sharing applications, from ghost ratings to a completely user-configurable queue area to multi-network support. Shareaza originally started out as an Gnutella client, but recently branched out and developed Gnutella2, a completely open and documented network. Boasting 50,000 users, Gnutella2 is well on its way to the top. In addition, Shareaza supports the eDonkey network and BitTorrent. Shareaza's interface is easy-to-use yet powerful, and fully skinnable. Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc. You may now easily publish your files through the Ares decentralized network. As a member of the virtual community, you can search and download just about any file shared by other users. With Ares you can also join chat rooms or host your channel and meet new friends. FilePipe P2P is a multi network file sharing program for windows which makes use of the open source project gift to connect through multiple networks such as (ares, fasttrack, gnutella, openFT). The integrated media player allows you to watch video and audio files even if they have not finished downloading yet. Search queries can be filtered by all or just a selection of networks. Limewire is a file sharing program running on the Gnutella Network. It is open standard software running on an open protocol, free for the public to use. LimeWire allows you to share any file such as.mp3s, .avis, jpgs, tiffs, etc. Limewire is written in Java, and will run on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Sun, and other computing platforms. Publish your original content to the world without setting up a website! Bearshare is a file sharing program that lets you, your friends, and everyone in the world share files. Built on Gnutella technology, it provides a simple, easy to use interface combined with a powerful connection and search engine that puts thousands of different files in easy reach. It is designed to let you share files with everyone on the Internet, and download files that other people are sharing. Works with all types of files, and lets you search for files that contain specific words or phrases. WinMX is a peer-to-peer file sharing program authored by Frontcode Technologies and running on Windows operating systems. The official WinMX website and WinMX servers have been offline since September 2005 due to a lawsuit (One of the major problems that led to the declining popularity of WinMX was the increase presence of "dummy" files, reportedly placed by individuals and/or companies opposed to file sharing) though the application remains operable through third-party modifications. BitTorrent, multiple data packets at once methodOkay, now for those that have never heard of BitTorrent or aren't what one would consider to be tech savvy, have no fear, we will cover everything you need to know about BitTorrent and then some. BitTorrent is good for:
BitTorrent is bad for:
What is BitTorrent?The BitTorrent protocol breaks the file(s) down into smaller fragments, typically a quarter of a megabyte (256KB) in size. Peers download missing fragments from each other and upload those that they already have to peers that request them. The protocol is 'smart' enough to choose the peer with the best network connections for the fragments that it's requesting. To increase the overall efficiency of the swarm (the ad-hoc P2P network temporarily created to distribute a particular file), the Bittorrent clients request from their peers the fragments that are most rare; in other words, the fragments that are available on the least number of peers, making most fragments available widely across many machines and avoiding bottlenecks. Azureus vs uTorrent Client ServersThe first step is to choose what's called a "client," or "client server" to be exact. There's a bunch of client servers out there to choose from(complete list) but to keep it simple will talk about two of them, Azureus and uTorrent. AzureusAzureus is my personal favorite because, although scientific proof is somewhat inconclusive, I swear it downloads much faster than the rest. It also has many bells and whistles to choose from, things like "safepeer," which blocks known "bad" IP addresses from connecting to your PC, and an automatic download plugin that you can customize to download your favorite TV shows and movies. For a complete list of the plugins you can pimp Azureus out with, check out Top Azureus Plugins Revealed. To find out how to download and setup Azureus check out this guide: Azureus - A Beginner's Guide to BitTorrent DownloadinguTorrentuTorrent is very popular with many people because it has a smaller memory footprint than that of Azureus, meaning that if you have an older computer or usually have a lot of programs running at once, it is easier to run. To find out how to download and setup uTorrent check out this guide: uTorrent - A Beginner's guide to BitTorrent downloadingI've Installed and Set Up My BitTorrent Client Now What?Now that you've finished setting up your client server, either Azureus or uTorrent, whichever you used, it's now time to find places to get the files you want. There's two types of places to download files from, private and public BitTorrent sites. There's an in depth article, " PUBLIC vs PRIVATE - BitTorrent download sites explored," that you can take a look at, but the basic gist is that public's are always open to everybody and the private's require a signup or invite of some sort. The public site's are pretty straightforward, the big one's are The Pirate Bay, TorrentSpy, ISOHunt,, and MinNova.. There's also a great torrent scraper called TorentBoss that will actually search them all at once if you wish to make things easier. For private sites, short of checking in from time to time to see if they're open for signup's or not, is to either use a cool program called Tracker Checker that you can set to automatically check if sites are open or not, or simply check out our Invite Trading Post where people wheel and deal invites to one another. Best method to share files between friendsThere's many options to choose from. There's things like FTP Clients that turn your PC into a server whereby your friends can then log in and connect to you and download files. The easiest way to share files, particularly music, is just to simply use the new AllPeers file-sharing plugin for Mozilla's Firefox internet browser. AllPeersWith AllPeers you simply drag and drop files into a share folder window in the browser and then select with whom you wish to share the files with. It's a particularly excellent method to get by network administrators who may be on the prowl for people running P2P file-sharing applications on the campus network. Being that it's simply an internet browser and that you are only sharing with people you know, it's a very safe and effective way to share your files with others without many of the usual headaches. Also, AllPeers as a particularly good method of creating private social networks of friends or family that can share music, movies, pictures, class notes, homework, whatever you heart desires. I'm Having Problems Getting Started, I'd Like to Learn MoreThe following is list of the file-sharing boards in the Zeropaid forums where you can ask questions about whichever P2P setup you decided to use. They are also a good place to help out with troubleshooting any problems you may have encountered, or even to discuss what file-sharing application or network is best suited for your particular needs, desires, location, or platform. General Discussion Talk about anything and everything and "share" what you wish about peer to peer. Problems & Questions Got a file sharing problem? Discuss it here with our members to solve your problems. New Programs & Networks Here you can talk about all the latest in new downloading programs and there networks. Advanced Topics Got an idea, thought or query about file sharing? Then chat about here and give your opinions. BitTorrent Talk about the most modern and popular way to download large scale media today. BitTorrent Clients, BitTorrent Help, BitTorrent Links Direct Connect Share your entire hard drive with the rest of the true die hard p2p'ers using Hubs and Clients. FastTrack Technology / KaZaA Here you can talk about the largest network known to peer to peer and it's programs. General Fast-Track, Tips & Tricks, Hacks, Grokster, Imesh, KaZaA, Kazaa Lite Other Networks / Clients MP2P, Piolet, ANts, Mute, EXEEM, Morpheus, Freenet, Waste ect. ANts, Mute, EXEEM, MP2P, Freenet, Waste Gnutella This network is ever growing and changing to come on in to talk about the network in all its glory. General Gnutella Discussion, BearShare, Phex, Gnucleus, LimeWire, LimeWire Hacks, XoloX, Shareaza WinMX It's not dead, it's alive and kicking and here you can discuss it to your hearts consent. Edonkey & Emule Everyone is talking about this vast network and so can you so dont hesitate to talk about it. NEOnet / Morpheus Chat here about this popular network and the clients that are used by it so. Digg This! |
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