Keep torrents alive

From AzureusWiki

Uploading while downloading to save torrents

Get it out of your head right now that you can just download to the max and cap your upload, to get the file faster and then seed back the torrent when you got it.

You'll find some definitions of terms unknown to you here.

The principals of how BitTorrent works is that a file is broken into pieces, the uploader sends these pieces out, in linear order or if in super seed mode, where needed (never super seed, just causes too many problems: 99% of the time super seed is not needed).

If you have four peers and one seed, with the uploader setting his client to connect to four peers, each peer will receive a different piece, most likely in order, peer one statistically will receive pieces 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 and so on.

So this means that whilst downloading the pieces of the torrent off the uploader, you want to be downloading the pieces already given out by the uploader - and in turn, those peers want every other peer's pieces.

Plan ahead! Are there only a few peers on the torrent and the torrent is large, like 4 GB or larger? Would it be better to cap your download speed with NetLimiter so you aren't taking in too many pieces at once, that you can't pass back out to other peers?

Are you bored waiting and go start another smaller torrent while you are waiting? That won't work, now your upload speed is divided between two torrents, making the problem worse!

Has the uploader decided that with his slow line he will upload 4 DVDs worth of data at the same time? Are you starting to panic, thinking that with your line, by the time you get the first torrent, and seed back, the next torrent won't be working anymore?

So, what are you going to do? Jump on all 4 torrents? Give an average upload speed of 5 kb/s to each torrent? Do not care about damaging the speeds of the torrents, because "cool torrent mate! I'll keep my client open for weeks to keep this beauty alive!" Yeah, well at 5kbs you will need weeks to seed all the torrents back.

This is where everyone has to understand a very simple fact about torrents, that sadly many people are choosing to ignore.

By not uploading the pieces you received from the uploader, you are damaging the torrent. You are doing it, "it is your fault."

Patterns emerge, people ban your IP in their client, days, weeks, months from now the IPs have been exchanged between uploaders and stuck in trackers. There comes a time when your speeds go to hell, you can't get data off people, everything's so slow you start to bitch and whine about the speeds, without understanding that maybe your actions in the first place caused this. That IP might even get shared with BT sites where I know people can enter the IP in their tracker and who in turn trust me to make educated decisions and not be juvenile about this sort of thing.

So, think about the health of torrents. Don't cap your upload, don't try and get too many torrents (for examply by using Force Start) at once. Also, read about the Ignore Rules.

Think carefully and pass the word, the information and reasoning on how to properly maintain a torrent needs to be in everyones minds and acted upon.

Read the Azureus FAQ