What are pre times?

Answer 1

A pre - time is the measurement of time between the public release of media and it's introduction to a bittorrent tracker. Confused? Read on. Bittorrent To fully grasp the idea of pre - times, we must start with a basic understanding of a file - sharing protocol entitled "Bittorrent" by it's creator Bram Cohen. This network is created using Peer to Peer technology(P2P) in which a swarm of users connect to one another, hosting and downloading various types of files.

Ratio When Bittorrent users download a file, they are also expected to keep their Bittorrent program running to host the file to other users. The amount of data downloaded from a tracker versus the amount of data uploaded to other users is referred to as one's ratio. Trackers Links to files that are shared within the Bittorrent protocol are available on various websites called trackers. Public trackers are free to sign up but have slow download speeds, while private tracker are by invitation only but have blazing download speeds and fast pre - times. Public trackers Public trackers do not monitor each user's ratio, so files are often Hit 'n Run, meaning a user downloads the file and immediately terminates the bittorrent program without sharing the file with other users. This results in slow download speeds and low availablity of new releases. Public trackers also suffer from a trickle - down effect that leaves several days between the airing of a show and it's availability on the tracker. Private trackers Private trackers monitor each user's ratio carefully and will quickly eliminate users with low ratios. Since everyone is trying to keep their ratio high, every file has a large number of users hosting it and downloads are phenomenally fast compared to public tracker speeds. Also, shows and media that are publicly aired arrive on the scene within minutes on the top private trackers.