Usenet or Bittorrent
Table of Contents
Before you start deploying a server, you need to ask yourself on which route you are going to select in order to obtain your desired media. You can obtain your media one of three ways. Either through USENET, Torrents or through a combination of both. PTS is more USENET focused due to the simplicity, security, and speed that USENET provides, but we do offer torrenting programs. Let's have a small discussion and talk about the pros/cons and understanding what both methods provide.
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PTS YOUTUBE: Understanding USENET
Back in the day (which is not too far away), content was shared through the use of newsgroups. Personally, recall in trying to use it the first time (1999); USENET was complicated, time-consuming, and difficult to use (which now is not the case). Most USENET companies provided a USENET Client/Reader that enabled you to view their forums. Traditionally, the forums utilized are not what they are today. Most of the forums contained simple postings with shared files that a user would download with the provided software. Imagine downloading hundreds of files to discover that one file was bad.
USENET - Year: 1981
The achilleas heel of USENET was that bad files would result in you either searching for new content to REPEAT the long drawn out process or you had to repair the file with the software provide. Even worse, USENET was not unlimited. You would have spent $10 - $20 a month just to download several gigs of content (which was a lot back then). Yes, all the bad downloaded files counted against the user. As you can see below, a legacy episode of the Simpsons reveals the idea of USENET back then.
USENET - 20th Century Fox's - Simpsons - Comic Book Guy
Sadly yes, people did chat and post messages within newsgroups; but they are all currently dominated through the use of binary (file) posts. So if visit a newsgroups site, you'll notice they'll talk about data retention. Data retention is the files and postings that the newsgroup hosts are holding onto. If you discover shows that you once found before, they may not exist if the USENET provider deleted all of the older posts. This is why it is important to pay attention to the hosting providers' retention policy. As of now, many are holding on to post for the last 3500 days.
USENET - Generic Server to Client Set Up
- Does not require the use of a VPN
- Easily tops 100MB (1 GIG) speeds
- Does not require sharing files back or maintaining some type of ratio
- Utilizes SSL encryption that prevents others from snooping on your activities
- Automation Software such as Radarr, Liddar & Sonarr take full advantage of
- Useful for independent automation and requires little to no oversight
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- Tends to be confusing for new users
- Does require a user to typically pay for an indexer (yearly) and a host (monthly)
- DCMA takedowns of certain files can result in some files never being obtained
- Requires a stronger server to process, restore, and repair files
Bittorent has a unique history in that it mostly gained popularity starting in the early-mid 2000s. Usenet existed but was very painful to use. Sharing platforms such as Kazaa and Napster dominated the times. Through a series of legal troubles, Kazaa and Napster were targeted due to their centralized platform in offering free media content. It was argued that it was no fault of their own because users were choosing to select and download content from a blind server; meaning that it was unmanaged and that organizations were not responsible for what users chose to do. It was a weak argument that eventually lost and what shuttered and closed their doors. As a result, the rise of BitTorrent started to gain traction in that users were sharing content from each other in a decentralized manner.
Furthermore, through a series of court cases, there has been traction that users are ultimately responsible for content being shared through the use of an IP address. It is the reason why so many users required VPN connections when selecting to torrent. There has been a series of legal problems in that some courts find it difficult to sue a person in that they have to prove it was that exact person offering the content (such as a 13-year-old kid within grandma's open wifi network). Though torrenting is still used, it has been become quite a popular target due to people settling quickly. As a result, private torrents are being utilized... but the concept is misleading in that any organization can join the private torrent site and still target users for a lawsuit.
- Easier to understand over NZB - USENET
- Technically Free (some cost with private indexers)
- More availability for unique files over Usenet
- Does not require a powerful server
- Requires a VPN
- Slower compared to NZBs - Newsgroups
- Requires sharing and/or maintaining some type of ratio
- Easier to track your activities; torrent websites are malicious and/or mine your CPU
- Automation Software such as Radarr, Liddar & Sonarr more painful to use due to sharing
- Requires some oversight; checking VPN and sharing/ratios checks
NONE SO FAR