What are Torrents?

[Matthew Winters]

This is probably one of the most stupidest questions ever on Tom's Hardware but I'm kinda new to this stuff. So what is a Torrent?

 

[USAFRet]

Torrents: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_file

A popular torrent client: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_%28software%29

 

[USAFRet]

Basically, it is a peer to peer file sharing system. You request a file, and whatever client you are using searches and finds other people who are sharing out parts of that file.
You are getting it in little bits from other peoples PC's.

It reduces the workload needed in distributing files.

Widely used in 'sharing' copyrighted data (movies, music, etc). But also VERY useful for distributing other large files.
For instance, if I created a new Linux distro, I could serve it up via a torrent. As other people download it, the parts they have already downloaded become part of the potential upload stream for other people.
I don't have to serve it up to everyone all by myself. Everybody's upload pipe becomes part of the distribution chain.