uTorrent 1.3 & DHT ?

[halfstep]

I just made the switch today from my old faithful ABC 2.6.9 to uTorrent 1.3. So far so good - I think.

I am confused about DHT though. Anyone out there with a plain vanilla flavored definition of this? All the tech speak I have read on this has me more confused. I know Dime has an issue with older torrents that were not DHT safe - no prob. just use grab new torrents, right?
I guess I am just curious what this gets me and the BT world and should I have it enabled or disabled.

Being so new to this client I felt better about posting this question to the group here first vs. the uTorrent forums.

Thanks!

[Five]

I don't have the answer to your question, but just wanted to chime in that I think I remember reading that utorrent is not allowed at dime fwiw.

[halfstep]

Thanks for the response Five.
Here is a copy/paste from Dime where µTorrent is mentioned.

Attention Azureus 2.3.x.x and µTorrent 1.2.1.x users:

Azureus has introduced DHT (Distributed Hash Table) technology to its client starting with version 2.3.x.x. µTorrent follows this scheme starting with version 1.2.1.x. Using DHT will harm your DIME share ratio and violates our tracker rules as we can't take care of banned torrents terminating timely. Thus, torrents which are not DHT-safe (all torrents uploaded before May 13, 2005, 15:00 GMT) may not be used with these clients. Users known to use these clients will not be able to download a DHT-unsafe torrent, announcements of these clients for such torrents will not be accepted by the trackers. If you want to download/leech/seed a DHT-unsafe torrent, do the following:

-- Install a different client (i.e., BitTornado, ABC) or a version of Azureus prior to 2.3.x.x resp. µTorrent prior to 1.2.1.x.
-- Start any torrent with this client and wait for the client to do its first announcement. Stop the torrent.
-- Download the .torrent file you want to have and run it.
-- Restart all other of your torrents.

Wed 21st Dec, 2005

(00:01 GMT) For several reasons all clients of the BitComet/BitLord/BitSpirit families will not be allowed for usage with the DIME trackers anymore. Starting on December 24, 2005 announcement of BitComet/BitLord/BitSpirit clients will be rejected by DIME trackers. Starting on January 31, 2006 users with BitComet/BitLord/BitSpirit clients as their "last used client" will not be able to download any .torrent file from DIME. Such users will have to close the old account and open a new one to be able to download .torrent files again!

Sorry for the bad news, folks, but the developers of these clients choose to not respect private trackers (like DIME). Now, every private tracker will never more respect clients of the BitComet/BitLord/BitSpriti families. Go and get yourself a new client (µTorrent?).

So, if I am reading this correctly, it seems torrents posted before 5/31/05 can not be downloaded with µTorrent.
It also appears too me that the news posting on 12/21/05 Dime comes close to recomending µTorrent (last sentence).

I think I may just shut it off and see what happens - a little trial and error never hurts I suppose.

[U2Lynne]

Originally Posted by halfstep

Thanks for the response Five.
Here is a copy/paste from Dime where µTorrent is mentioned.

... cut ....

So, if I am reading this correctly, it seems torrents posted before 5/31/05 can not be downloaded with µTorrent.
It also appears too me that the news posting on 12/21/05 Dime comes close to recomending µTorrent (last sentence).

I think I may just shut it off and see what happens - a little trial and error never hurts I suppose.

Yes, that confused me also. In one post they are saying they don't like uTorrent, but then they recommend it in the next one.

The thing about the BitLord clients is that they pound a tracker to the point that the tracker finally gives up trying to talk to it. If you select the Peers List here and see a person listed several times, chances are they are using a BitLord type client. I know absolutely nothing about uTorrent (and actually only what I've read about BitLord) since I am on a Mac and those clients aren't available to me.

[Gizby]

I had a show up at Dime not long ago, and I remember looking at the peers list and seeing one person being connected around ten times. I'm guessing it was that. Anyhow, I continue to use µTorrent over there and have no problems.

And I have no knowledge of DHT either. I think some of the concerns with the problem clients were that they allowed for banned torrents to continue seeding and they allowed for people outside of the tracker to download the shows. Again, I think that's what I heard.

Say Lynne, I never thanked you for being the one person to download my Future Pigeon show last year. Thanks

[halfstep]

Thanks Lynne & Gizby. I am headed over to the µTorrent forum now to dive into the DHT research a bit more.

side note: I did briefly scan some posts on the Dime yahoo group and found their mods are cool with µTorrent for all post 5/31/05. They are actually recomending it now that they have banned BitLord and others.

[Five]

µTorrent is also the #1 recommended client over at zomb now, too.

I'll have to check it out sometime.

[lostboy]

I had been using BitSpirit, and PM'ed a mod a DIME since it wasn't recognized. He told me it was going to be banned and specifically recommended µTorrent.

My interpretation of the messages on DIME's home page is that they recommend µTorrent, just use version 1.2 or earlier. On the µTorrent site, it was easy to find the older version. I've been running it about 2 weeks now, no problems so far.

[Gizby]

Okay, after looking over µTorrent's FAQ, I'd like to link/quote some items concerning DHT.

Does µTorrent support DHT or Peer Exchange?
As of version 1.2, µTorrent supports DHT, but not Peer Exchange. It respects only the private flag included in the .torrent

µTorrent will NEVER support private flags given by the tracker in the announce response! It is a dirty fix, and is EXTREMELY unreliable. Only the private flag embedded into the torrent will be supported because it is reliable and relatively secure by design.

Does DHT mean my torrents from private trackers are getting leaked?

So long as the torrents are created with the private flag (µTorrent and Azureus support this functionality in their torrent creators), DHT will be disabled automatically for that torrent. You can verify this by double clicking on the torrent: if "Enable DHT" is greyed out, it's disabled for that torrent.

µTorrent will NEVER support getting the private flag from the tracker announce, because this method is considered to be very insecure and unreliable. If you are a tracker admin and want the private flag to work reliably, please enforce using the private flag in the .torrent on the tracker level. BitComet's torrent maker does not make private torrents properly, nor does the client respect the private flag (see this article on Slyck).

I don't want DHT on anyway, how do I turn it off?

Open the options, go to Torrent Options, and uncheck "Enable DHT." This will turn off DHT for ALL torrents. Alternatively, you can disable it on a per-torrent basis: double click the torrent or right click and select properties, then uncheck "Enable DHT."

There is also an option to have DHT disabled for new torrents by default, allowing you to have DHT enabled globally without having to worry about your private torrents using DHT when they lack a private flag.

What is DHT?

DHT (Distributed Hash Table, technical explanation) is an addition to certain BitTorrent clients that allows them to work without a tracker. What this means is that your client will be able to find peers even when the tracker is down, or doesn't even exist anymore. It allows the swarm to continue as normal without a tracker. You can also host torrents without a tracker. (see Does µTorrent support trackerless torrents?).

µTorrent's DHT implementation is the same as Mainline and BitComet's, but unfortunately this is incompatible with Azureus's implementation.

So it seems to me that µTorrent should be in the clear even with versions after 1.2.x.x. The screenshot below is the properties window for a DIME torrent runnig in µTorrent 1.3.


I've circled the 'Enable DHT' tick box. For this torrent, it is greyed out. For other torrents I have running on other trackers, the option is open.

So, since µTorrent respects the rights of a tracker to turn off this option, and since DIME turns it off when you have to redownload your own torrent, it seems like any version of µTorrent should be kosher over there as long as you don't download torrents from before May. At least that's how I see it.

[saltman]

You nailed it Gizby. I've been using 1.3 since second week in December. Works fine at DAD and everywhere else. If DHT is allowed it uses it, if it's not it doesn't. I love this client.

[Horace]

I have been using uTorrent for a few weeks. I switched from ABC and LOVE IT! I have u/l and d/l from DIME without any problems.

Horace

[halfstep]

Gizby - thanks for the snipits from the FAQ. I must have read that thing 3 or 4 times and it didn't really click with me. However, in the context you have posted it, I think I have a bit better understanding. I appreciate the effort.

So far I too am please with my migration from ABC to µTorrent 1.3.

Although, I feel I need to do something more with the Torrent Options settings then the defaults. I'm paying Cox a significant amount of cash each month for my new 9mb down/1mb up connection and I want to be sure I am getting my monies worth. For now, I am searching the µTorrent forums for guidance on the right mix.