How Torrents Work

There are a lot of questions concerning why FrostWire establishes so many files and follows the tree structure of the original uploader.

Bittorrent protocol is organized so that the program can download from multiple sources at the same time. It can download from anyone who is online and sharing. Since a torrent can contain many files and many sharing may not have an entire data set, it's impossible to start at the beginning and proceed to the end.

A torrent defines a chunk size for the data and makes a map that indicates the precise location of each data chunk, relative to the start of the data structure. To permit downloading from multiple sources, the program allocates data for all that it will be downloading as null entries. As data becomes available, it is written into the appropriate chunk and is considered complete.

This means that it's similar to an empty container that is filled as the data becomes available, and the order of obtaining that data is irrelevant.

A hash is a mathematical calculation that is made on data that yields a unique value that can be used to identify that data. Torrents are made unique and identifiable by hash, not by name. If a single bit is changed in a torrent set, it becomes a different torrent, and is invalid under the old definition. To allow a torrent to seed, nothing can change. Data can be copied, but if moved, changed or renamed the torrent becomes invalid and cannot seed.

If a partial download is done, after it is complete and seeding, the data will consist of the entire tree structure, but ONLY the indicated files will be present. When the torrent is canceled, the structure not supporting the downloaded files will be deleted. Now, anything that is desired can be done to the data, as it, now, is just data on your hard drive and no longer part of a torrent.

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