BitTorrent DNA (when temporarily stopped) - DNA's GUI has shipped with every version of DNA

BitTorrent DNA (when temporarily stopped)  - this GUI has shipped with every version of BitTorrent DNA

BitTorrent DNA is a program that stands for BitTorrent Delivery Network Accelerator.

The product runs in the background, whenever the computer is on.^[1]

[edit] Purpose

This program is designed to speed up the viewing of streaming video, downloading software (with or without the BitTorrent protocol) and playing online video games. It does so by distributing the end users' downloads between each other. In this way, the developers intend that content providers should take less load on their servers so the end users can receive the content faster.^[2]

[edit] Protocol

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (August 2008)

BitTorrent DNA is different from traditional BitTorrent in that it relies on publisher HTTP servers in order to provide publishers with guaranteed minimum data delivery rate, as well as give publishers control over content delivery (peers must connect to the origin server before they can reach other peers), and collect information about content delivery to share with the publisher. The quality of the file transfer is specified in terms of a long-term average bitrate for data and in terms of meeting deadlines when streaming. It also can give bandwidth to TCP and other traffic.

DNA is also different from traditional BitTorrent in that it is a UDP-based protocol that has replaced regular TCP-based bandwidth throttling with a much more sensitive bandwidth management technique.

[edit] Relation to the official BitTorrent client

Apart from being installed by third party websites and software companies, the program for end users is also installed when the official BitTorrent client is installed (starting with the rebranded version 6.0). However, it can be independently uninstalled.

The first version of the DNA made it possible to keep the DNA application installed and yet temporarily stopped until the next system restart (through the system's control panel, in Windows XP^[1]). The DNA GUI was completely removed in the official BitTorrent version 6.1 and 6.1.1, but was re-introduced in version 6.1.2.

[edit] History

Since October, 2007 BitTorrent DNA has been offered by BitTorrent, Inc. as a commercial service that content providers can purchase (for an undisclosed price) and as a free background program for end users.^[2] Company President Ashwin Navin launched the product claiming that "Implementing BitTorrent DNA on top of legacy infrastructure has the profound impact of allowing our customers to deliver a better user experience, higher quality video, faster software downloads, all with the security and reliability of a managed service."^[3]

Navin in a podcast interview claimed that he attempted to sell BitTorrent DNA in January 2005. After finding that BitTorrent's brand was too polarizing for potential customers, they delayed the launch until after partnering with nearly 50 media companies in the BitTorrent Entertainment Network. That provided the company enough public validation to finally launch BitTorrent DNA two and half years later.^[4]

The service's first customer was the company Brightcove, that chose to use it to distribute streaming video files.^[5][6]

As of May 2009, the Asus support website is using BitTorrent DNA as an additional download method of their larger files in addition to their multiple somewhat internationally distributed HTTP servers and content delivery mirrors and other redirection facilities Asus has been known to rely in the present and past for their data delivery needs. Currently, a separate "P2P" icon is being presented for the DNA style downloads next to the "Global" and "Chinese" located servers as an example.^[7]

[edit] Criticism

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (March 2009)

WeFixedTheGlitch cited concerns shortly after the launch of BitTorrent DNA about possible exploits of the software, rating it as a "high" level risk and recommending the software to be avoided.^[8]. BitTorrent replied that DNA only "accelerates" authorized URLs, but the possible exploit remains untested.

Other criticism includes the fact that DNA automatically starts with Windows and is installed with the official BitTorrent client, making it hard to be noticed by some users. BitTorrent claims that this will be fixed when DNA is fully integrated into their client. Also, DNA can only be temporarily disabled and has no other method to control bandwidth usage, relying entirely on autodetection of acceptable transfer speeds^[9].

Like most peer-to-peer applications, DNA might cause poor performance when running alongside other peer-to-peer delivery systems; unfortunately, due to DNA's subtleness, often the user is unaware that their content is being delivered in a manner that requires both numerous connections and utilization of their upload bandwidth, and may be surprised at a sudden drop in performance of unrelated transfers.

[edit] References