How To: Faster Torrenting With a VPS Seedbox

[alexalex]

If you've ever used BitTorrent to download the version of your favorite Linux distro or, well, something else, you'll know that it's all about bandwidth. Obviously, the faster your downstream speed, the quicker the download completes -- but did you know that your upstream connection dictates your maximum download speed?

You might not appreciate it as an "end user", but the entire point of the BitTorrent protocol is to create a network of high-speed seeds. The fact is, if you have a faster upload speed, BitTorrent wants you to complete the download faster, so that you can help keep the torrent alive.

The problem, though, is that most home internet connections are still fairly weak. If you're near a city, you might be able to upload at a few megabits per second, but many internet users are still limited to just a few hundred kilobits. If a torrent is well-seeded, you still have the possibility of maxing out your downstream, but it's unlikely. The best solution in such cases is to stop using your own upstream link and get a seedbox -- a virtual private server (VPS) -- that's connected to the web at 100 megabits per second.

A seedbox is, fundamentally, a shared Linux server that sits in a well-connected data center. You log in remotely, via SSH, Web control panel, or smartphone app, and simply start queuing up torrents. When they're done -- which only takes about a minute -- you download them directly to your home computer. The privilege costs a few dollars a month -- but can you put a price on almost unlimited traffic and downloading everything at 10MB/sec?.....

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2384634,00.asp

[articuno1au]

The advantage being Direct Download for those of you who are wondering.

The server can upload faster then your home internet connection can download, thus you always get full speed.

On the flipside, most torrents download rapidly enough to not make you want to hurt people..

Great thing about admin'ing a set of servers, when you shut down a server, you put uTorrent on it and seed like crazy for a few days ;)

[what]

It surprises me how many people need to rent out a dedicated machine in a datacenter for their Linux ISO downloads. I can't complain though, the more people that do it, the better the speeds I get on my home connection without spending a penny.

[articuno1au]

And here I was doing it to diddle my Demonoid ratio ;)

[Mike]

It surprises me how many people need to rent out a dedicated machine in a datacenter for their Linux ISO downloads. I can't complain though, the more people that do it, the better the speeds I get on my home connection without spending a penny.

It surprises me how many people use torrents for Linux ISOs when there are more FTPs than you can shake a stick at that will happily max out the fastest of home connections any time of the day...

[x9248]

The fact is, if you have a faster upload speed, BitTorrent wants you to complete the download faster, so that you can help keep the torrent alive.

Wrong. The bittorrent protocol can not determine this. It doesn't "want" anything. Seedboxes seed fastest to other seedboxes because they can handle the large stream of data, that's all.

If a torrent is well-seeded, you still have the possibility of maxing out your downstream, but it's unlikely.

Wrong again... it's actually very likely as long as it's well seeded and you aren't an idiot when it comes to routers and ports.

A seedbox is, fundamentally, a shared Linux server that sits in a well-connected data center. You log in remotely, via SSH, Web control panel, or smartphone app, and simply start queuing up torrents. When they're done -- which only takes about a minute -- you download them directly to your home computer. The privilege costs a few dollars a month -- but can you put a price on almost unlimited traffic and downloading everything at 10MB/sec?.....

So downloading files in 1 minute as opposed to 10 minutes is worth a few dollars a month? Screw that. Just admit you're paying the monthly charge for the 100mbit upload :devil:

What a dumb article.

[The_Observer]

got mates with a seedbox, and with all the new laws in NZ, its great! saves time and we can all download linuxISO's with no problems, gives access to 4 of us, and he have a unlimited internet data cap, so hes just sFTP them all day for us!