Understanding BitTorrent through real measurements

In this paper, we present the results of the BitTorrent measurement study. Two sources of BitTorrent data were utilised: metadata files and the logs of one of the currently most popular BitTorrent clients — μTorrent. Experimental data were collected for fifteen days from the popular torrent-discovery site thepiratebay.org (more than 30 000 torrents were captured and analysed). During this period the activity and logs of an unmodified version of μTorrent client downloading sessions were also captured. The obtained experimental results are swarm-oriented, which allows us to look at BitTorrent and its users from an exchanged resources perspective. Moreover, comparative analysis of the clients' connections with and without the μTP protocol is carried out to verify the extent to which μTP improves BitTorrent transmissions. To the authors' best knowledge, none of the previous studies have addressed these issues.