Make A Torrent Tracker! (May 07) From www.thinkdigit.com

Make A Torrent Tracker! (May 07) From www.thinkdigit.com

You’ve been using torrents to download large files like Linux distribution images and movies from the Internet, and already know that BitTorrent is the fastest and best way to share files among large numbers of users. But have you considered sharing home videos, office clips, etc. with your friends and relatives using torrents?

Most of us know that .torrent files require a tracker to keep track of who (peer clients) has which piece of a particular torrent file. Azureus is a popular Java-based BitTorrent client with an inbuilt tracker.

Getting The Basics Sorted Out
You will require the Azureus Vuze client; get it from the Digit April 2007 DVD, or download it from http://azureus. sourceforge.net. If you don’t have the Java Development Kit, you could get it off the Digit January 2007 CD, or let Azureus download it for you. Azureus prevents basic users from creating a torrent tracker, so you’ll need to switch to the advanced user mode. Under View, select Advanced, and then in Mode, select Advance User proficiency.

Coming Down To It
For your torrent to work, you have to create a server (tracker). To do so, navigate to Tools > Options > Tracker > Server. If you have a static IP, key it in. If you’re on a dynamic IP, things are a little more complicated—you will have to use Azureus along with dynamic DNS services such as DynDNS, Discoveryvip and No-IP; register with them free of cost to use them. Once that is done, key in the dynamic host name given to you during registration. You will also have to keep the dynamic DNS client running in the background while your tracker is up.


Azureus then automatically checks if the dynamic IP is being resolved or not. Enable the tracker using the checkbox, and let it use the default 6969 HTTP port. To let others host their own torrents using your tracker, turn on Enable External Torrents. You can even force these external torrents to use the default port by selecting the appropriate option. The tracker also lets you enable the UDP protocol, which will trouble your server less than HTTP, but you won’t be able to control clients’ download ratios—beware of leechers!

The Windows XP SP2 Firewall will require you to forward the ports used by Azureus. The simplest way to do it is by adding an exception for Azureus in the firewall. Switch your Control Panel to Classic View and open Windows Firewall. Under the Exception tab, select Add Program. Browse to the directory where Azureus is installed, select Azureus.exe, and apply the changes.



Creating The Torrent
To create a torrent, use [Ctrl] + [N] or go to File > New Torrent. Make sure that “Azureus Embedded Tracker” is selected; you can also share a directory in accordance with your requirements. On the third page of the “Make a torrent” interface, don’t forget to check the option to open the torrent for seeding when done. Azureus will then create the .torrent file in the directory selected.



Distributing The Torrent
Completing all the above steps properly will make Azureus seed the file. Seed your file for a long time to prevent peers from being left with incomplete files. Finally, you can distribute the torrent to your friends using e-mail or IM.

If you’re releasing your personal videos or an amateur film using torrents, don’t use your PC as a tracker—it won’t be able to handle the traffic. Instead, opt for an external tracker service.

sumedh_phalak@thinkdigit.com