Seedboxes for Beginners

Text taken from - https://www.hightechlowlife.eu/


This is a basic intro to seedboxes for people who have never heard of them, or who have, but don't know what they are.

I am going to assume everyone knows what a torrent is, and has used a torrent client before (like µTorrent)

A seedbox is basically a private server that has been set up with the software required to download torrents and allow you to retrieve the completed downloads. The owner then rents out each seedbox to make money. You get a certain amount of hard drive space to store downloads depending on the plan you choose with your seedbox provider.

Each seedbox will have a torrent client pre installed. This is the software that allows you to download the torrent to the server's hard drive. Favoured torrent clients vary widely. Some seedboxes offer you a choice at signup. I personally like Transmission. There is a Remote Client available which I have installed at home and work so I can control my torrents from anywhere. Mostly though, a web interface allows you to add and remove torrents to your client.

To get the completed file to your home pc, each seedbox will have an FTP (file transfer protocol) programme installed. You then install on your home pc an FTP programme like Filezilla (which is free). This allows you to "ftp" the file at the maximum speed your internet plan allows (theoretically at least) FTP is an old protocol that works well. Newer FTP clients support multi part downloading, encryption and lots more. A lot of seedboxes will also offer a web interface to get your files to your pc. This is ok, but using FTP is much better. Also, encrypting your connection makes it much harder for anyone to see what you're doing (like your ISP)

So why should you pay for a seedbox? Good question.

There are many advantages to using a seedbox. Firstly, your seedbox will have a waaaay faster connection than you home internet. As an example, my seedbox has a 10Gbps downlink, and a 1Gbps uplink. This allows you to get popular torrents (ones with plenty of seeders) at phenomenally fast speeds. As an example, I just downloaded a popular 5.4GB file in under 5 minutes to my seedbox. Also, more and more ISPs are throttling (reducing) torrent speeds if you torrent at home. For more info follow this link -

http://wiki.vuze.com/w/Bad_ISPs

Also, many groups are trying to stop torrenting because of the whole piracy issue. They attempt to identify and sue users. These groups are called Rotten Sons Of Bitches. A seedbox will preferably be on a server hosted in a country that does not make this easy for these pricks. As an example, my last seedbox was hosted in Denmark. My current one is in The Netherlands.

Seedboxes also make seeding way easier and faster that your home connection. Why is this important? It's not if you use a public tracker like The Pirate Bay. There is no penalty for not giving back to the community. However, if you have a membership to a private, invite only tracker, seeding is critical to maintain your ratio, and keep your membership privileges. Private trackers also have much better quality torrents, no viruses to worry about (usually), a larger range of quality rips (eg Blu Ray), newer files sooner etc.

Seedboxes keep seeding while your own pc is shut down. So your ratio keeps going up, regardless. As an example, on my favourite private tracker, I have been a member for 8 months. In that time, I have uploaded 11.7TB of data. My ratio sits at just over 30. And that is without trying at all.

Some of you may say, renting a VPS and doing it yourself is cheaper and better. True. But seedboxes are setup to be no brainers. Easy to use, support available etc. If you rent a VPS, you can certainly get a good deal, and you can install all sorts of other software, but you will need to have some proficiency in Linux to do so.