In the BitTorrent file distribution system, a torrent file or meta-info file is a computer file that contains metadata about files and folders to be distributed, and usually also a list of the network locations of trackers, which are computers that help participants in the system find each other and form efficient distribution groups called swarms.[1] A torrent file does not contain the content to be distributed; it only contains information about those files, such as their names, folder structure, sizes, and cryptographic hash values for verifying file integrity. The term torrent may refer either to the metadata file or to the files downloaded, depending on the context.
The X Files Season 2 Torrent
A torrent file acts like a table of contents (index) that allows computers to find information through the use of a BitTorrent client. With the help of a torrent file, one can download small parts of the original file from computers that have already downloaded it. These "peers" allow for downloading of the file in addition to, or in place of, the primary server.
Torrent files themselves and the method of using torrent files have been created to ease the load on central servers, as instead of sending a file to for request, it can crowd-source the bandwidth needed for the file transfer, and reduce the time needed to download large files. Many free/freeware programs and operating systems, such as the various Linux distributions offer a torrent download option for users seeking the aforementioned benefits. Other large downloads, such as media files, are often torrented as well.
Typically, Internet access is asymmetrical, supporting greater download speeds than upload speeds, limiting the bandwidth of each download, and sometimes enforcing bandwidth caps and periods where systems are not accessible. This creates inefficiency when many people want to obtain the same set of files from a single source; the source must always be online and must have massive outbound bandwidth. The BitTorrent protocol addresses this by decentralizing the distribution, leveraging the ability of people to network "peer-to-peer", among themselves.
A small torrent file is created to represent a file or folder to be shared. The torrent file acts as the key to initiating downloading of the actual content. Someone interested in receiving the shared file or folder first obtains the corresponding torrent file, either by directly downloading it or by using a magnet link. The user then opens that file in a BitTorrent client, which automates the rest of the process. In order to learn the internet locations of peers who may be sharing pieces, the client connects to the trackers named in the torrent file, and/or achieves a similar result through the use of distributed hash tables. Then the client connects directly to the peers in order to request pieces and otherwise participate in a swarm. The client may also report progress to trackers, to help the tracker with its peer recommendations.
A torrent is uniquely identified by an infohash, a SHA-1 hash calculated over the contents of the info dictionary in bencode form. Changes to other portions of the torrent does not affect the hash. This hash is used to identify the torrent to other peers via DHT and to the tracker. It is also used in magnet links.
The new format uses SHA-256 in both the piece-hashing and the infohash. The "btmh" magnet link would contain the full 32-byte hash, while communication with trackers and on the DHT uses the 20-byte truncated version to fit into the old message structure.[2] It is possible to construct a torrent file with only updated new fields for a "v2" torrent, or with both the old and new fields for a "hybrid" format. However, as a torrent would have different infohashes in v1 and v2 networks, two swarms would form, requiring special handling by the client.[3]
A core feature of the new format is its application of merkle trees, reducing the size of torrent files. Each file now always occupy whole piece sizes and have an independent merkle root hash, so that it's possible to find duplicate files across unrelated torrent files.[3]
A torrent file can also contain additional metadata defined in extensions to the BitTorrent specification.[4] These are known as "BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals." Examples of such proposals include metadata for stating who created the torrent, and when.
The specification recommends that nodes "should be set to the K closest nodes in the torrent generating client's routing table. Alternatively, the key could be set to a known good node such as one operated by the person generating the torrent."
This feature is very commonly used by open source projects offering software downloads. Web seeds allow smart selection and simultaneous use of mirror sites, P2P or HTTP(S), by the client. Doing so reducing the load on the project's servers while maximizing download speed. MirrorBrain [de] automatically generates torrents with web seeds.
Private torrents are to be used with a private tracker. Such a tracker restricts access to torrents it tracks by checking the peer's IP, refusing to provide a peer list if the IP is unknown. The peer itself is usually registered to the tracker via a gated online community; the private tracker typically also keep statistics of data transfer for use in the community.
Decentralized methods like DHT, PeX, LSD are disabled to maintain the centralized control. A private torrent can be manually edited to remove the private flag, but doing so will change the info-hash (deterministically), forming a separate "swarm" of peers. On the other hand, changing the tracker list will not change the hash. The flag does not offer true privacy, instead operating as a gentlemen's agreement.
Instead of downloading the .torrent file from a webserver, you download it directly from a seed/leecher. The biggest advantage is that you might be able to download the content of the torrent, even if the tracker is down or closed for registration.
Traditionally, .torrent files are downloaded from torrent sites. A torrent client then calculates a torrent hash (a kind of fingerprint) based on the files it relates to, and seeks the addresses of peers from a tracker (or the DHT network) before connecting to those peers and downloading the desired content.
It is worth noting that BitTorrent can not ditch the .torrent format entirely and rely solely on Magnet links. The .torrent files hold crucial information that is needed to start the downloading process, and this information has to be available in the swarm.
A Bittorrent magnet link contains all the information needed to start downloading the files from peers directly. It is a server-less way of retrieving the right information to start downloading the requested files. A magnet link therefor is theoretically all that is needed to download files from other peers in the Bittorrent network. Magnet links can be distributed by email, messaging and other forms of communication but are most often found on the torrent sites that usually offer both torrent and magnet links to their users.
The main advantage for Bittorrent indexers is that they do not have to store the torrents on their servers anymore which could be beneficial for them in several ways. It could reduce the pressure from the media creation industry and reduce hardware infrastructure expenses thanks to less tracking and downloading.
The end users on the other hand benefit from Magnet Links as well. All they need is the link to start downloading the files which makes them independent from torrent indexers. It also allows them to distribute the information more easily. Torrent indexers remain on the other hand the main source of information for new files that are available for download.
A tracker less environment should raise a question of identification. How can a download be initiated ff there is no tracker to inform the Bittorrent user about other users who download and seed the file? The answer is DHT, Distributed hash tables. DHT is enabled by default in popular clients such as uTorrent or Vuze. Without going into to much detail, the hash of the magnet link is used to find peers using DHT.
Both torrent file and Magnet links perform the same task, that is, download files via BitTorrent. Magnet links contain hashes of the files to be downloaded and location of where these can be downloaded from.
It probably helps a bit to be a fan of The X-Files TV series to enjoy this film, but not completely necessary. The picture goes to great lengths for example, to describe the working relationship Scully (Gillian Anderson) was expected to have with her FBI partner Mulder (David Duchovny). If I'm not mistaken, it came up three times where Scully stated that she was teamed up with Mulder to debunk his work and provide a scientific rationale against his outlandish theories on UFO's and extraterrestrials. But with five seasons of the show behind them, this tack wouldn't be entirely successful in the movie, so the story line provided more fodder for the government conspiracy adherents, and in that respect, added a bit more to the mythology arc explored in the TV program.But there were some bumps in this road for followers of the series. At one point, Mulder went into a lengthy soliloquy on why he's about fed up with searching out the truth, mentioning the alien abduction of his sister Samantha when both of them were still kids. Whether he was merely speaking off the top of his head or not, it had already been established that Samantha's disappearance had been engineered by the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and that Samantha was alive and (relatively) well with a family of her own. So there were those little distractions that fans of the show would be able to pick out.When I first saw this film when it was originally released, I thought the revisit to the business about the bees spreading a virus laden pollen was too much covering of old ground, but I see now with another viewing that it was instrumental in grounding a link to the government conspiracy to keep the public in the dark about alien colonization. Here more than ever it's established that the so called Syndicate is working both with, and against the alien colonization forces, in order to save mankind from becoming a handy meal for extraterrestrial biological entities.My assumption is that the Antarctica scene was meant to provide that over the top, big event, explosive finale that action movies are expected to include these days. As an added bonus, Mulder must rescue Scully from a pod-like chamber in which she's being kept alive following exposure to the alien virus. A mild version of a serum the Syndicate had been working on is shown to be effective in bringing Scully around, thereby providing Mulder the means to make the save, and insure that the franchise would live for another day. Well, make that four more seasons at least, even if "One man alone cannot fight the future".My timing in re-watching this film happened to coincide with the passing of Martin Landau just a few days ago, and I had forgotten that he was part of this film's cast. I always enjoyed his work, having been introduced to him as a teenager watching 'Mission Impossible' during the mid Sixties. That show, along with a couple appearances in Rod Serling's 'Twilight Zone' ('Mr. Denton on Doomsday', 'The Jeopardy Room'), seemed to have well prepared him for the role of the mysterious Dr. Alvin Kurtzweil in this film. It's always sad to hear about the passing of well regarded celebrities, and all I can offer is Rest in Peace, Mr. Landau. 2ff7e9595c
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