Azureus

Azureus is a Java programming language based BitTorrent client, with support for I2P and Tor (anonymous network) anonymous communication protocol (computing). It currently supports Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Unix. Azureus was started at Sourceforge.net mostly to experiment with the Standard Widget Toolkit from Eclipse, in June 2003.

Azureus allows the user to download multiple files in a single graphical user interface (GUI). The program also features detailed statistics and a large number of user-configurable settings. While downloading a torrent, you can view many different statistics including:

Current download and upload speeds and estimated time remaining,

The percentage of each file completed and information on the pieces (small parts of the complete file) you still need including the piece number and availability,

File names, sizes and levels of completion for specific files within the download directory (BitTorrent allows a user to create a torrent file for an entire directory). It is also possible to prevent certain files from downloading,

Peer data including IP addresses (and country with the use of a plugin), the speeds at which you are downloading and uploading to/from them, the port they are running BitTorrent on, and the BitTorrent client they are using,

The total and average swarm speeds [http://azureus.aelitis.com/wiki/index.php/Average_Swarm_Speed Average Swarm Speed].

Azureus allows users to specify maximum upload and download speeds and is configurable like many other clients. Azureus also allows users to open some files that have been completed before the entire torrent from within the program. Additionally, Azureus can serve as its own tracker (the server which watches over the Bittorrent swarm), allowing users to share their own files with others without uploading it to any site. Azureus functionality can be expanded via various plugins, one of the more popular being Country Locator.

The program s logo is the Blue Poison Dart Frog ( Dendrobates azureus ), shown on the Azureus webpage, as well as within the program s start-up splash screen, which no doubt lent its name to the project.

Azureus version 2.3.0.0 introduced the Distributed Database function (a form of Distributed hash table), which is an expansion of the BitTorrent protocol, making it more independent from trackers. This allows for a torrent where the original tracker is down or very slow to get peer data (and eventually download the files) from other peers that are using Azureus 2.3.0.0 or newer. The downside to this is private trackers, where membership is required, that do not want non-members downloading their torrents are required to alter their torrents so the Azureus client knows not to share peer information about that swarm. Some critics also say that this is simply reinventing the wheel, refering to earlier peer-to-peer protocols and programs which BitTorrent was praised for filling in the weaknesses of. Others see it as an evolution of the BitTorrent protocols. Azureus uses its own form of DHT incompatible with Bram_Cohen BitTorrent or BitComet.

Azureus was modified to create the Localhost Program, which uses the Distributed Database to maintain a virtual file system.

=See also=

*Anonymous P2P *List of BitTorrent clients *Comparison of BitTorrent clients *Super seeding *Distributed hash table *P2P-Filesharing

=External links=

*[http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ Official website] *[http://azureus.aelitis.com/wiki/ Azureus wiki] *[http://azureus.aelitis.com/wiki/index.php/Azureus_FAQ Azureus FAQ] *[http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ Azureus project page]