Torrent tests
Bittorrents are a useful way of distributing content, particularly as they save on server bandwidth costs etc. For this reason they should be made use of by mindcloud.org.
Seeding
The only problem is seeding the torrents. I had proposed two different models of how we might release a new file:
1.Pre-seeding
Under this method, the torrent would be seeded amongst convenient, broadband-equipped computers before release. The number of computers involved in this pre-seeding would depend on the size of the file, so some guideline would have to be put in place for this.
The main advantage would be that bandwidth load on the webserver would be just about zero (apart from people downloading the .torrent file). The disadvantage is the inconvenience: it would take some time before enough pre-seeds could be established, unless done over a LAN.
2.Web-seeding
Under this method, the file would be hosted on the webserver, but would not be available for direct download. Instead, this file would be used to seed a torrent. After enough seeds exist, the file could be pulled from the server, only needing to be reuploaded if the number of seeds dropped below some critical level.
The advantage here is convenience: users can immediately access the data as soon as the new file is uploaded. The webseed would provide reliability as the webserver is always on. Also, it could be configured in such a way that it would only assist in seeding if absolutely necessary, so if there were already sufficient seeds around, it would not contribute. The disadvantage is the bandwidth load, which would be something to keep an eye on. Also, the host might get a bit uppity about this sort of thing...
Recent developments
Update, 21/02/2006: Webseeding is now working! I have here some screenshots, one is the chance appearance of a webseed contribution to the torrent in Azureus 2.4.0.0, the other is a request log showing individual pieces being requested from a test torrent I uploaded. If you would like to see for yourself, this and this are the test torrents...
Note that you'll need the latest version of Azureus. This will only utilise the webseed if the availability is below 1.0, so it will be advantages to spread the seeds around as well.
Now...the process of creating a torrent file that will webseed is reasonably involved. Instructions on how to do this are here.
File request logs show pieces being requested for the Trainsplotting.mov torrent.
The torrents.mindcloud.org webseed is plain to see in the list of peers.
Not-so-recent developments
I have the tools to set up a webseed. This adds some sort of "httpseed" header into the .torrent file that points to the hosted file. Unfortunately, not all bittorrent clients support this httpseed. BitTornado is one that does, although if you have a Mac, you'll need to compile the source code yourself.
It would be ridiculous to ask people to swap to a different bittorrent client just to download things from this site, and especially if it requires compiling source code etc (although learning a bit of self-reliance isn't a bad thing at all). Because of this, a combination of the two models above looks to be the most probable: pre-seed AND web-seeding.
Update: Having spent an awful lot of time on the whole webseeding thing, with little success, it's on the backburner for now, at least until I get broadband access. Model two is the least problematic after all...
Update: Azureus now supports http webseeding. Apparently...I've run some more tests and it don't seem to work none. Could be that I'm setting it up wrong, in fact this is highly likely. I still haven't seen any requests for anything on torrents.mindcloud.org, awaiting fresh stats!
219.90.187.190 05:10, 20 February 2006 (PST)
