Whois & Analysis for gbitt.info

A BitTorrent tracker is a special type of server, one that assists in the communication between peers using the BitTorrent protocol.

In peer-to-peer file sharing, a software client on an end-user PC requests a file, and portions of the requested file residing on peer machines are sent to the client, and then reassembled into a full copy of the requested file.

The "tracker" server keeps track of where file copies reside on peer machines, which ones are available at time of the client request, and helps coordinate efficient transmission and reassembly of the copied file.

Clients that have already begun downloading a file communicate with the tracker periodically to negotiate faster file transfer with new peers, and provide network performance statistics; however, after the initial peer-to-peer file download is started, peer-to-peer communication can continue without the connection to a tracker.

Since the creation of the distributed hash table (DHT) method for "Trackerless" torrents, BitTorrent trackers have largely become redundant, however, they are still often included with torrents to improve the speed of peer discovery.

In the BitTorrent file distribution system, a torrent 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.

A torrent file does not contain the content to be distributed; it only contains information about those files, such as their names, sizes, folder structure, and cryptographic hash values for verifying file integrity.

Depending on context, a torrent may be the torrent file or the referenced content.

Free software, freedom-respecting software, or software libre is computer software distributed under terms that allow the software users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute the software and any adapted versions.

Free software is a matter of liberty, not price: users, individually or collectively, are free to do what they want with it, including the freedom to redistribute the software free of charge, or to sell it, or charge for related services such as support or warranty for profit.

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.

Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner.

According to scientists who studied it, open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration.

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.

They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporarily archived.

Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.