BitTorrent index: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:42, 18 February 2012

Revision as of 22:45, 29 September 2012

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{{Unreferenced|date=March 2010}}

{{confuse|BitTorrent tracker}}

A '''BitTorrent index''' is a list of .torrent files (usually including descriptions and other information), managed by a website, that is available for searching files to download through [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent protocol]]. It should be differentiated from a [[BitTorrent tracker]], which merely coordinates communication between peers attempting to download the payload of the torrents. Many [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]] websites act as both tracker and index. Sites such as these publicize the tracker's URL and allow users to upload torrents to the index with the tracker's URL embedded in them, providing all the features necessary to initiate a download.

A '''BitTorrent index''' is an index of files potentially accessible via the [[BitTorrent protocol]]. Many [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]] websites act as both trackers and indexes.

Entries in BitTorrent indexes typically contain a textual description of the file, credits, a cryptographical identifier and a list of [[Internet host]]s willing to transmit the file or coordinate the transmission, given said cryptographical identifier. The identifier can than be used to validate that the file received is the one described in the index.

{{BitTorrent}}