Well, my initial post with screenies didn't get posted because my dsl connection went down and the page lost everything that was there..
Anyway, I am going to try and post how to seed more efficiently every time I remember / come across an article on the internet.
Tip #1: Unlimit upload speed (set it to 0 or 9999) in connections and turn on alternate upload speed when sharing by checking the checkbox. (Options>Preferences>Connection)
Tip #2: Limit upload slots to a maximum of 5. More causes a problem.Tip #3: Cap your upload while downloading but uncap it after downloading (when seeding). It's a disadvantage when downloading as it may make you seem you have a slow d/l speed but after downloading; it WILL help you seed better. = )Clarification: Go to
www.speedtest.net Check at the speed test to see if it is showing results in kilobits (kb) or kilobytes(kB). Most show speed in kilobits and uTorrent (and all bittorrent clients) show speeds in kilobytes. 8kb = 1kB so 600kbps = 75kBps.
http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Data_unitsFor best download speed, if it is kilobits, your upload should be capped at 60kBs to leave room for needed communications. If you are only seeding, you can have it set to unlimited.
You can set it for both at Options>Preferences>Bandwidth in BitTorrent and uTorrent. (
www.bittorent.com |
www.utorrent.com)
Tip #4: Hack the max TCP connections
If you’re on XP sp2, your TCP connections are limited to a maximum of 10. This seriously hurts your downloading speed because it wont let you connect to a high amount of ip numbers. It is supposed to slow down viruses because their spreading strategy is to connect to a high amount of ip numbers, but it also cripples your torrent downloads.
A nice way to fix this is to download this patch (http://torrentfreak.com/static/EvID4226Patch223d-en.zip), it allows you to set the maximum allowed connections to any number you want. Any number between 50 and 100 is okay.
Tip #5: 5. Disable Windows Firewall
It sucks. Windows Firewall hates P2P (peer-2-peer like BitTorrent) and often leads a life of it’s own. So disable it and get yourself a decent firewall, Kaspersky (<3) or Zone Alarm for example.Proof of #2:
A seeding torrent can only upload to so many peers before peers time out due to inactivity. Also, seeds have no need to connect to other seeds...reducing the number of connections a seed can get. A downloading torrent can sustain many more connections because only inactive seeds/peers that are not uploading or download get disconnected.
Beyond this max, peers go through a disconnect/reconnect cycle of repeated handshakes and increasing bandwidth used. Traffic shaping equipment monitoring traffic patterns is also more likely to interfere with these connections. EVERYONE LOSES!
While seeding, 1 upload slot uses optimistic unchoke -- which changes peers no quicker than once every 30 seconds unless peers disconnect. The other upload slots upload to the first peers that come along and change peers less often. peer.disconnect_inactive_interval = 300 seconds (5 minutes) by default. So any peers the seed has not uploaded to in 300 seconds gets automatically disconnected.
At 1 upload slot max and changing peers once every 30 seconds, this works out to be:
300 seconds / 30 seconds per peer * 1 upload slot = 10 max peers
This is the theoretical max usable peers for a seeding torrent limited to 1 upload slot, which is surprisingly low.
Each additional upload slot needs progressively less additional max peers, because they are increasingly likely to upload to the same peer for many minutes on end:
For 5 upload slots max: 300 seconds / 60 seconds per peer * 5 upload slots = 25 max peers
For 10 upload slots max: 300 seconds / 100 seconds per peer * 10 upload slots = 30 max peers
For 20 upload slots max: 300 seconds / 150 seconds per peer * 20 upload slots = 40 max peers
But as low as those maxes are, max peers for BEST results are lower still:
For 1 upload slot, 5 total peers connected leaves ample redundancy if a peer disconnects or a peer downloads too slowly.
For 5 upload slots, 10 total peers are plenty -- covering both disconnects and slow peers.
For 10 upload slots, 20 total peers with low odds that any 10 peers being too slow.
For 20 upload slots, no more than 30 total peers are needed because it is very unlikely 10+ peers disconnect AND remaining peers download too slow.
Lower max connections GREATLY increases the effectiveness of initial seeding!Once a not-firewalled seeding torrent reaches connections equal to its upload slots, it has little need to make more outgoing connections. This leaves unused connections for incoming peers.
