The BiglyBT client has added full support for the BitTorrent v2 specification, including hybrid torrents. According to the developers, BitTorrent v2 has several advantages, some of which will be noticeable to users.
BiglyBT was released in the summer of 2017. The open-source software was developed by Parg and TuxPaper, who previously worked on Azureus and Vuze.
The developers have now released a new version of BiglyBT. The latest release includes support for BitTorrent v2, making it the first torrent client to work with the new specification.
BitTorrent v2 is not widely known to the public yet, but the developers see potential in it. Essentially, it is a new and improved BitTorrent specification that includes several technical changes. BitTorrent v2 was introduced in 2008.
A few weeks ago, support for v2 was officially added to the Libtorrent library, which is used by popular clients, including uTorrent Web, Deluge, and qBittorrent.
One of the main differences with BitTorrent v2 is that it creates a new type of torrent format. The torrent's hash includes a separate swarm (set of peers) formation from v1. 'Hybrid' torrent files now emerge, incorporating information for creating both v1 and v2 swarms.
"We support both hybrid torrents and torrents for version 2 only, downloading metadata from magnet links, and all existing features such as swarm discovery and I2P," noted BiglyBT.
Different torrent formats provide additional benefits, such as for 'swarm merging.' The same file can be downloaded from different torrents found via requests, with new files matched based on sizes.
In BitTorrent v2, each file has its own hash. This allows for automatic file matching. Currently, this feature has not been implemented, but developers are considering its introduction. They may abandon using file size as a proxy.
The advantage for users is that when downloading faulty data or data corruption, it's necessary to discard a small amount of data to identify the source of the error or any intentional intrusion.
However, as of now, v2 is not supported by any torrent sites or publishers.
Source: linux.org.ru
