BitTorrent File Sharing

Will BitTorrent still work if I am behind a firewall?

BitTorrent will work for file sharing even if you are behind a firewall. But given the BitTorrent file sharing protocol, your downloading will be improved if other peers are able to connect to you.

Generally, most BitTorrent clients allow you to change the ports. The BitTorrent client itself uses ports 6881 to 6889. It is probably a good idea to open the whole block of ports when configuring your firewall. Configuration of the firewall settings requires your computer's IP address.

How many files does BitTorrent support?

Extremely popular BitTorrent files can support anywhere from thousands to tens-of-thousands of downloads compared to the number that HTTP and other common protocols can support. This is one of the primary advantages to BitTorrent file sharing as it allows the ability to increase the performance based on the increased number of downloads of a particular file. Where a centralized server would bog down or shut down with increased downloading, a BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing setup improves as more people download and become peers.