The Big Torrent: How Much Can You Seed?

[MBJ]

Well, now that the big torrent has been released and we're all trying to download it, I thought that it would be cool to start a thread for bragging/competing about how much we've uploaded.

As of 7 AM eastern on 5/15 I have uploaded exactly 12.0 GB of this torrent. Since the total size of the torrent is 10.1 GB, I guess I don't have to worry about being able to reach the 1.0 ratio.

Like many users at this point I only have 26.3% of the torrent complete so my actual ratio is 5.92.

It helps that I have a fast upload speed (~90 kB/s).

So how about the rest of you? How are you doing on this gargantuan release?

[jeffjenx]

I've uploaded 7.21Gb and have a ratio of 2.554 at the moment.

[RangerXXX]

Uploaded 13.7gb so far.

[sav2880]

5.18 GB uploaded, 1.904 ratio

Stuck at the 28% point, where I am sure a lot of people are also right now, so it's all upload all the time for me.

** Updated, I'm up to 8 gigs now **

[fusoya]

well I only actually have about 8% of the torrent set to download, so it's proceeding pretty slow. Not to mention that I'm currently seeding the complete 1993 and 1994 packets as well

[alcoatjez]

I will join the torrent soon, but I have one question. Why isn't there a ClrMame datfile for this torrent? If someone is willing to make one, I can at least join the torrent with which magazines I already have.

[sav2880]

In the short term, try and join up by putting all of your .cbr files into a directory and see what happens. Once this is complete I can work on a ClrMAME style DAT file, I'm sure a few people will want one, you're right.

By the way, I have eclipsed the 15 gig plateau!

[Draconis]

Although I can download at up to speeds of 300k+, I can only upload around 30k...Comcast totally sucks in that respect.

I'm around 38 percent done and I've uploaded 5.87 gigs with a 1.4 ratio as of today (5/17/06)

[MBJ]

At 4 days and 16 hours I have uploaded 20.2 GB or about twice the amount of the full torrent. I'm currently at 38.1% complete with a ratio of 6.265.

It's nice that several files are at 100% so that I can at least look at something while I wait for the rest of it to download. I would like to call attention to issue 67 as containing coverage of the last NES game ever officially released: Wario's Woods. It's not a particularly great game but it marks the end of an era.

[jeffjenx]

MBJ: that's an interesting fact, that I never knew. Thanks for pointing that out.

Draconis: Yes Comcast does suck.

[Phillyman]

MBJ: that's an interesting fact, that I never knew. Thanks for pointing that out.

Draconis: Yes Comcast does suck.

Yes thats who your Admin is using to upload this torrent .......i can only do 384kbs (48) ......and if i let it run full blast i cannot surf webpages .....so i have to put it 25% under the full mode ......anyways it will be working better in a day or so

[MBJ]

Regarding Comcast: I use Comcast myself but I pay the extra $10 per month for double upload speed. I don't know if this is available to everyone but I have to say that if you do a lot of P2P and other internet activity it is definitely worth every penny. I can limit P2P to 60-65 kB/s up and still be able to browse web pages at a decent speed with the leftover bandwidth. I usually let it run free overnight and it's amazing how much it can upload at 90 kB/s.

I do agree that Comcast needs to increase their upload speed across the board. I have looked into alternatives and the only services that would give me a higher upload speed are WAY out of my price range (like getting a T3 line installed direct to my home).

Verizon is giving Comcast a run for their money with their FIOS (fiber optic) service that allows customers up to 2 Mb/s upload speed for just $35-40 a month, but it's only available in a few test markets. On the upside, however, I have heard reports that in those cities Comcast is upgrading their equipment to give standard customers around 1 Mb/s upload speed. I am hoping for more widespread speed increases in the future.

Meanwhile, whenever I start to think about these things I just say to myself "Hey, at least it's not dial-up."

Hooray! This is my 200th post!

[sav2880]

Regarding Comcast: I use Comcast myself but I pay the extra $10 per month for double upload speed. I don't know if this is available to everyone but I have to say that if you do a lot of P2P and other internet activity it is definitely worth every penny. I can limit P2P to 60-65 kB/s up and still be able to browse web pages at a decent speed with the leftover bandwidth. I usually let it run free overnight and it's amazing how much it can upload at 90 kB/s.

I do the same thing for my WOW Internet connection here, it's $5 extra to go from a 512 kbit upload to a megabit, which when you can push stuff at 100 kb/sec, becomes something formidable for P2P and for gaming too.

[jeffjenx]

I had WOW at my apartment and did the same thing. I liked them, but Comcast isn't available where my house is being built, so I have no choice but to go with them.

[sav2880]

I had WOW at my apartment and did the same thing. I liked them, but Comcast isn't available where my house is being built, so I have no choice but to go with them.

Southest Michigan ... whatcha got up there, WOW or Time Warner??

[jeffjenx]

WOW has limited availability around here. Some areas you can get it, some areas you can't. It's kind of like a hit-or-miss type of deal, but Comcast is damn near everywhere.

[MBJ]

Hooray! The big torrent passed 50% completion in the swarm last night!

After running for 7 days and 8 hours I am at 52%, have uploaded 31.3 GB, and have a ratio of 6.756.

[jeffjenx]

Not quite as much as you, but still a good ratio. I'm at 52% and have uploaded 16.51Gb with a ratio of 3.131. That means that I've surpassed the 1.000 ratio mark for the entire file.

[sav2880]

MBJ, are we racing?

I'm up to 33.9 gigs right now, 6.519 ratio.

[MBJ]

MBJ, are we racing?

A seeding race could only be good for the swarm.

Also, I do enjoy turning just about everything into a competition.

Let's see who can make it to 50 GB uploaded first....GO!

[sav2880]

A seeding race could only be good for the swarm.

Also, I do enjoy turning just about everything into a competition.

Let's see who can make it to 50 GB uploaded first....GO!

Oh it's so on! 34 gigs and counting for me.

[Billco]

The big problem with this torrent is how we're so heavily reliant on the original seeder, so there is much redundancy in the swarm. We're all at the same % right now, rather than each having a chunk we can share with others. My upload has gone largely underused as a result of this. Ideally, the first seeder should only need to upload to a 1.0 ratio for the torrent to be healthy, but in this case I get the impression it's uploaded much more than that, but with inefficient sharing among the peers.

I'm not a bittorrent expert (yet), but with the number of peers on this torrent I would assume it should go much much faster with all our combined bandwidth.

[MBJ]

We are indeed too heavily reliant upon the original seeder. Ideally, the initial seed will only send out pieces that are not available in the swarm. At the rate that this torrent is progressing, however, it is likely that the seed is sending out pieces in a redundant manner. I'm not sure that there is anything that can be done about this. One issue is that the pieces of this torrent are very large (4 MB). This was probably selected automatically when the torrent was created. This large piece size would not be a problem if there was a much smaller swarm or the seed had a faster upload speed. As it is, however, the seed is connecting to many peers and uploading redundant pieces slowly. This is why the swarm is progressing at the current rate.

The number of peers in a swarm only affects the speed relative to the speed of the original uploader. If the number of peers is large but the uploader has a slow speed, then you get a bottleneck effect like we are seeing. Regardless of this, uploading is not ever really "underused" since it will eventually result in more people with a complete copy of all of the files in the torrent. For example, if I complete the torrent with a ratio of 6.0 it means that I have uploaded 6 times as much data as I have downloaded. Assumung that every user seeds to a ratio of at least 1.0, this means that (on average) 5 other users will have to upload the full amount of the torrent if they are to achieve a ratio of 1.0.

This is, of course, using idealistic terms. Many users, especially on public trackers, don't seed to a ratio of 1.0. These individuals are true leechers. If I finish with a ratio of 6.0, it could also (and probably more accurately) be viewed as my having carried the weight of 5 other people. That way, if a few users stop seeding after having completed the download but not having achieved a ratio of 1.0, the torrent will still survive.

The key point here is that uploading is NEVER a bad thing for the swarm, even if the swarm is bottlenecked.

[sav2880]

Philly was talking earlier in this thread about his slower speeds through Comcast, so that's the likely main reason for the slowdowns. In the meantime, it's not going to be a bad thing at all for everyone to get to the apportioned percentage of the torrent that's been fully propogated, just as long as everyone stays patient with the process.

From my view it's up to 54 percent, and hopefully as the days move on, it will grow higher and higher.

In the meantime, let the friendly races continue.

[trancegemini]

Am i to late for this torrent? I have not see the seeder/seeders much so im guessing that is because the torrent has been around for awhile? I have uploaded 30 gigs but no one seems to have more then 55% or so and no seeders.