As being a long-time torrent user, I understand your pain points.
How are the torrents and magnet links different?
Unlike torrents, magnet links do not require downloading any single file to start the whole download process.
What is a Torrent?
Torrent files are small files that have all the metadata information stored and seeded from the hosting PC.
Every PC connected to a torrent site acts as a server.
Torrent files are not saved in a centralized server.
The files host and transferred from one PC to another.
Everyone is connected through a peer-to-peer connection.
The client joins the pieces and turns them into one single file.
So actually, when you download any torrent file, you are downloading the information about the file.
This is why torrent files are tiny in size.
As it contains only the information of the file, it also has hashes to locate the file.
What is Magnet Link?
Magnet links are the links that contain the hash values instead of the location of a torrent file.
These links can be sent through emails or texts.
Magnet links are available for public torrent sites that can trace and download files easily.
Magnet links work as hyperlinks.
Shortly, sites will feature magnet links rather than torrent files.
You may have heard about magnet links before.
But possibly you have not used it until now.
Consider a torrent file.
What does it contain?
Hashcode is a unique thing for torrent files.
Your torrent files carry hashcodes, which your torrent client calculates.
These calculated hashcodes are like another catalog number of ISBN that is unique from every aspect.
Codes are so different that it changes from one IP to another.
Hashcodes can be compared as fingerprints.
Everyone has a unique fingerprint.
And the torrents have unique hashcodes.
Now here is where the magnet links come in.
Magnet links work on DHT technology.
What is BitTorrent?
This is a decentralised method to share and distribute files over the internet.
In simple words, BitTorrent is the most popular torrent client, which can download torrents and magnets too.
There are several benefits and causes to use both of them in various situations.
As the name suggests, torrents are the files that contain information about the downloadable file.
Magnet links are connected with torrent files.
Magnet link does not require any kind of additional file downloads, unlike torrent.
This is not deniable truly.
But it is not the truth that torrents are used only for piracy.
There are several other various and different reasons behind the usage of torrents.
But torrent is also frequently used for sharing copyright-protected files with the help of a P2P connection.
FAQ
Is magnet streaming safe?
But you have to be sure that the file you are downloading is not infected with malware.
Do I need a VPN for magnet?
Can you go to jail for Torrenting?
Torrenting is illegal in some countries to implement copyright laws more effectively.
Will VPN protect me while Torrenting?
Using a VPN connection while torrenting is a sensible choice.
VPN creates a virtual private tunnel that encrypts all the data passing through.
VPN ensures that no one can keep an eye on what you are doing at that moment.
I hope this article helped you to eradicate all the confusions you had with torrents and magnet links.
