BitTorrent at a LAN?

[BustaRomeo]

I was just wondering whether bittorrent couldn't somehow be used in a LAN? A lot of file transfers happen at a LAN (as we all know), with movies etc. being moved around and very often it all comes from one person and it takes days to get just about anything. I know bittorrent was orignally designed to work in a network situation, but now it's used more for downloads. So how can I use it in a LAN? Also, is there any real point or advantage, because I imagine it would make everything work faster.

[doctorgonzo]

What are you moving around? How is your network set up at the moment?

While there are times when a torrent may be useful on a LAN, for merely moving around files it doesn't seem like it would be.

[ComputerNut]

If you want a more intuitive way of transferring files from system to system, i think some P2P software, can be configured for LAN use.

HTH

[rave]

in my Uni. i have set up a DC Hub using YnHUB.

people get DC clients(i suggested Peerweb but it has been discontinued), and then...everyone can share files
private message me if you want a version of a tutorial i wrote.

[BustaRomeo]

Will rave's suggestion make file transfers any faster? It would help for searching for files I'm just looking for a faster alternative.

[rave]

DC stands for Direct connect. on my Uni lan Network i can get speeds of averagely 1-3 MB/s

for some users it even reaches 8 MB/s

[doctorgonzo]

Again,what's the topography of your LAN? Do you have a centralized file server where the files are stored? What are the bottlenecks you are facing right now?

[ScurrilousPrune]

I think it would be a good option to use at a LAN as in a LAN party or gaming LAN. Say you need all the latest updates for a game, which is on all the computers. You need a fast way to spread the updates and span it across all the pcs there and get everything synched and up to date. Sometimes downloading it once on the server pc, and burning to multiple CDs is a more viable option. But I would like to see how this would function exactly.

I think Hamachi (P2p Software) would work well with that. It basically uses a minimal interface and basically connects to computers through a p2p network and then all you get is the users shared files in an explorer window. No fancy schmancy stuff. It also has encryption. Hosts can be made as well as just being a client, with password support and all.

If I ever to get my pc business to thrive, I would like to do tests/benchmarks and reviews on this kinda stuff and record it somehow (blog/videoclip/etc) since I'm really more of a hobbyist than a real Geek.

[BustaRomeo]

Originally Posted by doctorgonzo Again,what's the topography of your LAN? Do you have a centralized file server where the files are stored? What are the bottlenecks you are facing right now?

Man it's just a LAN party, there's no need for file servers. :P We're all just hooked up to one central switch, that's it.

[doctorgonzo]

Oh, a LAN party. You didn't specify that before. In that situation, since there is no centralized file server, some P2P software may be a good idea. I don't think that using BitTorrent would be the best way to go about doing it unless there were a lot of users all trying to get the same thing.

[rave]

Originally Posted by BustaRomeo A lot of file transfers happen at a LAN (as we all know), with movies etc. being moved around and very often it all comes from one person and it takes days to get just about anything.

yes...you should have made that clear. LAN parties are different from filesharing