BitTorrent is a file sharing protocol that allows files to be broken up into much smaller pieces. When you begin downloading a file using the BitTorrent protocol you are considered a ‘peer’. A peer is a client that only has a portion of the file available for upload since they haven’t completed the download yet. A seeder is a client who has the entire contents of a file available for upload. A torrent file holds all the information necessary for your BitTorrent client software to to find the different parts of the file or files being distributed. A swarm is the group of seeders and peers sharing the same torrent file.