Ok , I have always used ftp , sftp , web servers ,...etc
to allow people to upload and download files ,...etc

But now I am running into the problem that the media I am distributing takes a while to download 4Gig's + file size

So I thought I would setup a torrent server.

I have always used torrent clients for myself like bittorent , uttorent ,...and others
Only for downloading torrents/files but never the other way around like creating torrents and setting up the server side.

I have always wondered what you have to do to get a torrent site to work on the server side.

Questions
can you just use a regular ftp server and just put torrent files on it for the larger files.... and then a torrent client will beable to download the large files at anytime little by little.

Or do you need specific torrent server side software to work with the client side bittorent programs.

What I am think is that all I have to do is create a torrent file and add it to my site then if the torrent file is pointing to the large file...
then the client should beable to download it using his bittorent client.

Seems to me you don't need any special server side software for the client site to access/download it. Other then an ftp site to hold your file and or a website to provided the torrent file for the download.

Though I have never created a torrent file so I am not entirely sure how hard creating a torrent file and having it point to the correct file to download is? And how hard it is to get it so people with a torrent client can download it????

Please inform it would be nice to have my own torrent site.
I would think a torrent site is nothing more then a file located on a server that a torrent file points to....
And which a torrent client can read the torrent file and by that download the file located on the server
Thanks for any help

If I am correct then all I need to do is create the torrent file
I already have my own website and ftp server.

 

Here you go:
http://www.bittornado.com/

That link should set you straight.

 

Well I am just wondering if you need extra server side software for it.
This link looks like just another bittorrent client that is cabable of downloading torrent files.

Maybe I am missing something

 

Lemme try that again:
http://btfaq.com/serve/cache/56.html

 

Ok , so it seems that it is more then just creating a torrent file adding a link to a website for it. And putting the torrent data files on a file server.

My question is
What do I need to do to have my own tracker for my web or file/ftp server?
(another words if I need extra software for a tracker what do I download....
preferable something easy to configure/setup for ubuntu)

I know how to create a .torrent file examples look pretty easy on google.
But after I get the .torrent file created and provide a link to it on my website.
(note i already have apache2 setup so people that click on a torrent file have it open with their default torrent client program)

What do I have to do to have somebody start downloading ....
I guess the question is the seeding part...
Does seeding just mean I have to open the .torrent link and start downloading it first before somebody else can start downloading ....?


So I guess what I am asking is how do I setup my own tracker?
And how do I seed for people to beable to download it

 

I have downloaded bttrack for my tracker

So let me get this straight (correct me if I am wrong)
1) first set the default action for clicking on a torrent file to lauch the users torrent client whenever a client clicks a torrent link on a webpage (set this thru your web server )
2) start your tracker running on a port
3) create a torrent file , add the files/folders that you want to have users download , and have it point to the tracker you started in step 2
4) copy/ add a link to the .torrent file on your website.
Your done!

If this is all you have to do then I have done set 1 , 2
I believe I did step 2 ok , I used bttrack --port 7000 --dfile test
With nmap it say's 7000/tcp open http BitTornado tracker
so I am assuming step 2 is done correctly.
I did get an error initially with this bttrack --dfile test
it said port already in use because I already have my web server running on the default tracker port which is port 80 so I moved it to some random
port 7000. I am just wondering if the port number matters for the tracker or you can use any port and the clients will beable to use it just the same???
Basically is their any standard ports I should set the --port to.

Other then that the other settings for the bttrack I just left as default.
Is the default usually the best to use for most general use?

step 3
seems pretty easy
one question though once I create the torrent file do I just copy/place a link to it on the webpage and then everybody can download my files/folder I set in that .torrent or do I have to be the initial person that downloads from the .torrent file first?

Thanks I think I got it
Just one more thing when you are creating the .torrent files what should you put in for the tracker.
Do I just use http://mydomain or ip address:theport/
or
http://mydomain or ip address:theport/announce

I see alot of people putting announce in the examples of creating torrent file

 

Thats a good question. I have always used other trackers. There just soooo many, I didn't want my bandwidth zapped. And if some moron decides to use pirated software on my tracker, I dont want the headache, or the fine.

 

A private tracker could be really cool to have though. My friends and I share files on my Linux server over SSH.

My bandwith can only upload so much, sharing the files among a private BT network would be pretty awesome. I don't know of any solutions that makes this easy on a small scale though.

 

I've always wondered how to do this myself. But I've always just uploaded torrents on other trackers.

 

Wondering won't get you answers if you don't try to look stuff up =)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_tracker

There just soooo many, I didn't want my bandwidth zapped.

That would be a really interesting occurrence, considering none of the data is transferred through a tracker, it's all client to client. The bandwidth required to run a tracker is not high.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDP_tracker
might provide some simple clients to use, all you have to do is open or map a single UDP port on your firewall.

It is nearly impossible to take down a tracker unless it can be associated with a site directly. Distributed hash tables have made it difficult to take down trackers as the tracker itself is decentralized itself, ANY client connected to the swarm can be used as a tracker refrence if it is able to communicate with incoming connections.

Primarily what you'll see in the news is websites being taken down because of their obvious intention to supply people with illegal software, the distribution network itself is effectively immune.

 

That would be a really interesting occurrence, considering none of the data is transferred through a tracker, it's all client to client. The bandwidth required to run a tracker is not high.

Unless someone uses a pirated file with your tracker.

.....

What does a tracker track?

It tracks every instance of every segment of every file you are tracking. When ever a new person joins the swarm, everyone is "pinged" through the tracker to see what they hold and what speeds they are transferring at etc..

SO, if someone posts a pirated software to your tracker, and posts that to a popular pirate site, you can have a few hundred folks downloading a few hundred segments that is being tracked via:

whos bandwidth? Thats right.

Its not just the bandwidth, its the ping time for each person*segment number.

Usually, if it is a set number of folks downloading, no problem, the tracker stays out. But as every new person logs on, it hits everyone else to see what they have got. Every time.

Give it a try.

lived it. I didn't wikipedia it.

 

SO, if someone posts a pirated software to your tracker, and posts that to a popular pirate site, you can have a few hundred folks downloading a few hundred segments that is being tracked

If you used a distributed hash it's not a problem, from a legal standpoint at least, if you're the tracker for a major torrent all bets are off.

 

20+ years ago, pirate hackers would spend hours on the phone trying to hack and set up voice-mail/PBX accounts on company systems.

This was a way to "transmit" other pirated info, like calling card numbers, credit card numbers and clandestine BBS numbers.

The voicemail main number and mailbox number was distributed on usenet and BBS's then anyone could call from a pay-phone to get the latest "codes"

Now-a-days, they do the same (with more fervor) with FTPs and bittorrent stuff... just to broadcast their warez.

If they "cracked" some software, they want to brag about it. The only way to get "famous" is mass distribution.