Re: Possible to do torrents through firewalls and via a proxy?

["Paul Melson" <pmelson () gmail com>]

-----Original Message-----
Subject: [fw-wiz] Possible to do torrents through firewalls and via a proxy?

> I don't know if this is possible, but I keep seeing all these
> "torrents" used to download various images.  But I'm not only running
behind a firewall, but behind a
> proxy as well, with my client computer running on an isolated, internal
subnet.

Torrent == www.bittorrent.com

BitTorrent, while it clearly has some legitimate software distribution
capabilities, has some additional risks that you should consider before
allowing it through the firewall.  I would think this through very
carefully.

First, it's P2P file transfer software, and is very popular amongst those
that the MPAA, RIAA, and others would seek to prosecute.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=bittorrent+piracy  This may not be
a liability that your organization is willing to accept.

Second, the standard behavior of a BitTorrent client is to upload or share
the file 3-4x before it automatically closes the transfer.  If one user on
your network is downloads, for instance, the Fedora Core 5 DVD image, that's
3.5GB down and 14GB up if the download is left unattended.  

Third, I have yet to encounter an example of software that is both
business-appropriate and only available via BitTorrent.  I doubt very much
that you actually *need* to allow it through your firewall.


> Almost seems like a complete torrent client would need to be implemented
on the firewall machine, that 
> passes requests back to a client, but I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable
to know if it's already been 
> done, or is as difficult as it would appear to be...?

There's a good explanation of getting BitTorrent to work through a proxy
here:

http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/#proxy


PaulM

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