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BitTorrent for Content Providers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-it's-per-se-bad-don't-you-realize dept.

snuvlorgin writes "ibiblio.org has entered the fray, launching an enhanced BitTorrent site. Among the torrent offerings (all legal) are Linux kernels, distros, Project Gutenberg texts, and the ibiblio Speaker Series, which includes videos of talks by Larry Lessig, Robin Miller, and Dan Gillmor. ibiblio developed and open sourced the Osprey and Permaseed software to make BitTorrent seeding reliable, persistent, and suitable for large-scale content providers. Yes, you can find these torrents later."

10 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Great Idea for alternative content by Thanatopsis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Great idea. It legitimizes BitTorrent as a protocol and it makes find some great content easy. Torrents On!

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    Thalasar
    1. Re:Great Idea for alternative content by bhtooefr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Because that would require more centralization, which is a Bad Idea(tm) when you're trying to mitigate the load. You have to have a port open to accept incoming connections directly.

    2. Re:Great Idea for alternative content by kwark · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Why can't these people design a protocol more like HTTP? Both the data and control packets can go out over a single TCP port and it's very easy to proxy.
      You did read the protocol? Since this is exactly how peers communicate!
      The problem your transfers are slow is because you can't connect to enough peers (which can be fixed by either party by being connectable by either unblocking or forwarding a port).
  2. More widespread support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Excellent, now maybe stupid Radford University will stop blocking ports 6800-6900. Seriously, BitTorrent needs all the legitimate support it can get if it is not to be grouped together with "illegitimate P2P traffic"
    --
    Fairfax Underground: Public message board for residents of Fairfax County, VA

  3. Re:I love IBiblio! by jmcharry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ibiblio also hosts the streaming audio for a number of NC public and student radio stations. It is a great service, and if bittorrent can reduce a bit of its server load so it can do even more, great!

    Ibiblio is the former sunsite, and has been a major contributor to the Internet for years.

  4. Science Content and Torrent by kkamrani · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would like to see the scientific journals, especially The Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://www.plos.org/ start distributing their montly publications over Bit Torrent. There have been occasions of downloading their 150mb journals where there servers and bandwidth were clearly overwhelmed. It would, in my opnion, be a great front to publicize excellent and FREE scientific articles as well as popularize and legitmize bit torrent as a cost effective and fast way to distribute content.

    --
    Anthropology.net - Beyond bones and stones.
  5. Download time increased!? by grahamsz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My personal experiences suggest that a well seeded torrent downloads much faster than an equivilent http download.

    For whatever reason i struggle to max out my 3MB pipe from anywhere but the fastest servers, yet with bittorrent i can get damn close on most transfers.

    The biggest hinderence (that i see) to bittorrent is that you need to have a listner port open for good performance.

  6. Re:I love IBiblio! by Sayan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Thanks for your support! I can tell you it feels just as great working there.

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    resurrect my .sig
  7. Federal government bans bittorrent by Danathar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Where I work bittorrent is classified as a Peer to Peer software in the same grouping as Kazza, Morpheus, ect....so the offical policy is that you are not allowed to use bittorrent FOR ANYTHING unless you have permission from the CIO.

    On an upside those that have broken the rules are people who were downloading LINUX distros and no action was taken.

    My point being I REALLY hope that bittorrent becomes an offical specified file transfer protocol. It might seperate it from the rest of the peer to peer crap that's tarnishing bittorrents legitimate use.

  8. Re:Let's see. by TeknoHog · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Hopefully with this companies will start to use BT as an alternative to http/ftp. The downside is that you have to have a client

    As opposed to http and ftp, which somehow magically work without a client ;)

    Seriously though, something like BT plugin in Firefox would probably help a lot.

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.