BitTorrent and M-Lab Collaborate to Make Application More "Network Friendly" and Support Internet Research

With the release of µTorrent 2.0 Beta, BitTorrent has added some important features to make the application more "network friendly" and improve the user experience. µTorrent is one of the most powerful network applications a user is likely to install and can now be used not only to share files, but also to provide useful information about users' networks and their Internet connections.

µTorrent 2.0 Beta has streamlined its setup process by automating their configuration process and using measurement tools from the Measurement Lab platform. With just a click, users can now test their internet connection speed, see how their router handles µTorrent connections, and optimize their client for their particular network.

To accurately configure µTorrent for its best performance, it's helpful to know the bandwidth available to the client. Traditionally, BitTorrent expected users to go to another site to perform a test, understand the results and translate them to the client's configuration settings. With µTorrent 2.0, the automated setup guide integrates with Measurement Lab's Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) to report performance measurements to the user.

µTorrent 2.0 uses Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) servers hosted at M-Lab sites around the world. The non-personally identifiable data generated by these tests (data collection info available here) will be made available under a Creative Commons Zero license.

Given µTorrent's substantial user-base, we are hopeful the data will stimulate new research into the state of the Internet and support public debate with unbiased measurement data and analysis.

For more information, see http://blog.bittorrent.com/2010/01/25/easier-setup-in-µtorrent-2-0-and-measurement-lab-collaboration.