BitTorrent solves a different transport problem that TCP. TCP is designed to allow a pair of machines to exchange data quickly and reliably. In contrast, BitTorrent is designed for a large group of machines to exchange the same file quickly and reliably. Rather than optimizing a single path, BitTorrent tries to take advantage of all available network bandwidth by dividing the transfers needed to retrieve a single large file between multiple cooperating peers. This allows it to frequently outperform the typical model in which clients download only from a central server.

Credits: Talking: Geoffrey Challen (Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo). Producing: Greg Bunyea (Undergraduate, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo).

Part of the https://www.internetclass.org online internet course. A blue Systems Research Group (https://blue.cse.buffalo.edu) production.