From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Server used for the safe distribution of digital files
A
seedbox
is a high-bandwidth remote
server
for
uploading
and
downloading
of
digital files
from a
P2P network
.
[1]
[2]
The bandwidth ranges generally from 100
Mbit/s
to 20
Gbit/s
. After the seedbox has acquired the files, people with access to the seedbox can download the file to their personal computers.
[3]
Function
Seedboxes generally use the
BitTorrent protocol
, although they have also been used on the
eDonkey2000
network. Seedboxes are usually connected to a high-speed network, often with a
throughput
of 100 Mbit/s or even 1 Gbit/s. Some providers are testing and offering 10 Gbit/s shared servers, while others are developing other systems that will allow users to scale their needs on the fly. Once the seedbox has a full copy of the files, they can be downloaded at high speeds to a user's personal computer via the
HTTP
,
FTP
,
SFTP
, or
rsync
protocols. This allows for anonymity and, usually, removes the need to worry about
share ratio
. More expensive seedboxes may support
VNC
or
Remote Desktop Protocol
, allowing many popular clients to be run remotely.
[
citation needed
]
Other seedboxes are special-purpose and run a variety of torrent-specific software including web interfaces of popular clients like
Transmission
,
rTorrent
,
Deluge
, and
μTorrent
, as well as the
TorrentFlux
web interface clients. Mobile interface support is also offered by clients such as
Transmission
.
Seedboxes on high-speed networks are typically able to download large files within very quickly, provided that the
swarm
can actually handle such a high upload bandwidth. For example, a seedbox with a transfer rate of 300 Mbit/s can finish downloading a 1
GB
file in under half a minute. That same 1 GB file can be uploaded to other users in the same amount of time, creating a 1:1 share ratio for that individual file. The ability to transfer files so quickly makes them very attractive to the P2P communities. Because of the mentioned high speeds, seedboxes tend to be popular when using private
torrent trackers
, where maintaining a share ratio above 1 can be very important.
[4]
Seedboxes are also used to circumvent
bandwidth throttling
by
Internet service providers
or to evade laws such as the
HADOPI law
in France.
[5]
[6]
References
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