Think about a situation where you are downloading a huge file. Your download manager is utilizing the connection between file server and your computer. It may create multiple connections and download the file in fastest possible way.
But in internet every computer has connections between each other. We call them peer to peer connections. BitTorrent protocol is designed to utilize those P2P connections and share huge files over internet more efficiently. Here there is no single server. Every computer is a client and a severe at the same time. It’s downloading the file from many other computers and uploading what it already downloaded to many other computers.
We are using this everyday to download huge files. Previously I talked about how to speed up BitTorrent downloads as well.
Now this technology has evolved further, going beyond file sharing to live video streaming. Lets go and take a closer look into BitTorrent live.
How BitTorrent Live Works?
The idea is simple. The usual BitTorrent protocol is upgraded to share stream videos. Same as file sharing, here we don’t have a single server and many clients connected to it. The broadcaster sends the video stream out and viewers receive it and re-broadcast what they already downloaded. This is going to save lots of upload bandwidth for broadcaster.
Yeah, the next big question, will be there be a significant delay. Of course, there has to be. But protocol is optimized to make it low as 5 seconds. However it might be longer in practical applications. We have to wait for some time, till this goes to public to check that.
How to Watch?
- Go to BitTorrent live web page.
- Download BitTorrent Live client, install and run it.
- Again go back to BitTorrent live web page, scroll down. There you can watch few test broadcasts.
- Make sure you have upgraded your browser and flash payer to latest version.
How to Broadcast?
You can join the waiting list to be a broadcaster in BitTorrent live. For that click here, enter your email and sign up. Down the time you will get a chance to be a broadcaster.
Competition with Other Services
Lost of features in BitTorrent live may sound familiar to you. If you have to do a live video broadcast, what is the server you are going to use? You have several options such as UStream and Google+ Hangout. These services are not utilizing P2P connectivity, but it’s not a burden to broadcaster because service provider handles it for you.
Google+ Hangout let many people to join hangout and millions of others can watch it live in YouTube live. It’s already a very polished product and even US president used it several times to communicate with public.
So the competition is pretty tight for BitTorrent live. They have to offer something unique and very powerful to take existing live broadcasters away from Google+ hangouts and UStream.
Tags: #BitTorrent #Video