Peer to Peer Recommendations
When it comes to downloading, most average Joe users (what a bias against people named Joe) simply download from a central server. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, which we will discuss later.
First of all, here are links to what I will discuss. Azureus (Bit Torrent), KaZaA, and eMule (eDonkey).
All of the above except KaZaA have Windows, Mac, and Linux clients. There are alternative clients that run on the Morpheus (KaZaA) network for Mac and Linux.
Starting off with eMule, as this is the shortest review. EMule is a quite complex client, but using the eDonkey network, it’s horrible. EDonkey is all about waiting — you could wait days for 30MB. I have had it happen. You sit in a queue line that is less than 5,000 if you’re lucky and wait for data. Don’t use it. (told you it was short) However, it is popular and usually has what you want. It also has a nice amount of detailed stats, amounting to a great deal of detail.
KaZaA used to be a very good sharing resource until the government attempted to shut it down. Ever since that action, it has become more and more abandoned. I tried it a few months ago for a second time to find almost nothing I looked for. Download speeds are good when you can find a file. There is also spyware installed with KaZaA (not Lite, however) and you cannot search to the maximum potential (you may look about 3 times or so for a file, each searching a select amount of peers). KaZaA is not known for detailed stats, though it does have some.
BitTorrent is last on the list and the recommended protocol of the day. There is no built-in search for most clients (Azureus included, which is the best one that I have tried as of yet), but it is easy to find them once you find a website to get the .torrent off of (SuprNova or Demonoid are good ones). Downloads start off slow like many others, but if they are well seeded, just as in others, they will speed up in a few minutes to normal speeds. One of Azureus’ best side is auto-management of multiple torrents. Most clients open one torrent, but it has semi-advanced features and detects which torrents need your bandwidth the most. It also has great stats (which it can export some of them to XML), which equal or exceed those of eMule’s.
Peer to Peer is ideal for taking load off of servers.
Remember, Peer to Peer sharing is legal, as long as you own the files you are transmitting (ROMs were legalized in the USA in 2003. No matter what Nintendo says (they still say no), they are legal). 99% of the time, if you Google for the file, it should show up with many entries. If not, you will need further assurance to find out if it’s legal. (example, Red Vs. Blue isn’t readily avaliable in full, as the site rotates them, so you will find very few full ones, but they are legal if low-quality)
I could share Battlefield 1942 and download it freely as I own the game. I am in no obligation to quit if I do so, as it’s the downloader’s fault if they download without owning. I downloaded Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC, as my CD wouldn’t install, but it would verify to start the game correctly. Perectly legal.
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