P2P downloads represent a large portion of today’s Internet traffic. Millions of users operate BitTorrent and generate more than 30% of the total Internet traffic. This paper mainly examines the working of the BitTorrent P2P protocol explaining the Terminology involvedin the BitTorrent community, its advantages over other file sharing protocols, the various popular BitTorrent clients, and the best torrent sites for searching torrents. It also focuses on the privacy, security and legal aspects related to its usage, and the future technologies-Magnet Links, DHT, and PeX which will increase its effectiveness and popularity.
