When you want to download a huge file or a file that is in demand and there are many users downloading the file at the same time, the server hosting the file is in huge pressure to meet the needs. BitTorrent is a protocol where the file is split into many pieces and resides in different computers. BitTorrent works on the policy of give and take or what it calls it as “tit for tat”. A system requesting a file also needs to give space to store pieces of files. The more a computer shares its space for storing pieces of files then there is a equal share of bandwidth rather than feeding on one machine that has the whole file which in BitTorrent terminology is called as “leeching”.

When the file is split into different pieces and is available in different machines, one system acts as a tracker that knows where these pieces are located and the order in which they have to be glued to make it a single piece. The client requiring the file gets a torrent file that has information to get to this tracker. Then the BitTorrent application communicates to this tracker and the tracker helps in getting the pieces of the files and the client application finally puts it all together. BitTorrent brings the web 2.0 culture in terms of sharing responsibility and resources so that everybody benefits. BitTorrent is widely used in downloading media files like movies though in principle the protocol can work for any type of files.