Bit Torrent 1740
Whether or not a given hard drive arrangement could have an impact on drive longevity is kind of a complicated...
Von Fourche Bittorrent (BT) is a file sharing protocol (and the name of the original client that used it). The basic idea is it's a smart, distributed distribution system; it's ideal for large files where multiple users will be downloading simultaneously. Clbuttically, when you (the ypclient, aka peer) download a file, you simply connect to one person (the server, aka seed) and download it, you are in essence limited to the servers upload bandwith (which is shared with all other clients downloading from the server). With BT, the file(s) is split into multiple parts with each person downloading a different section, and then eventually sharing those parts with the others. For example 3 people (A, B, C) want a file from the server (S). So S splits the file into thirds and gives the first third to person A, the second third to person B, and the last third to person C. Now when all three people have a third, they start sharing the third they have with their peers (so A shares part 1 with B & C) while still downloading from the server (A starts receiving part 2 from S & B, and part 3 from C). The BT client is the piece of software which takes care of putting the parts together. BT has some pitfalls, such as sometimes the server disconnects before a full combined copy of the file has been transmitted, in this case the torrent needs a seeder (and could be stalled forever). Also note BT gets faster as the number of users (both peers & seeds) increases, so a torrent is typically at it peek speed towards the beginning unless you have a lot of seeds willing to stay on.
Some important things to note: BT is a breast-for-tat system, in other words you MUST upload in order to download; and the faster you upload, the faster you download. It's in your best interest to cap your upload since the process of downloading requires a little upload bandwith to send ACKnowledgment packets; personally I recommend capping around 75%. You ought to open the BT ports on both your router and your system for better performance (many clients take care of this for you). I highly recommend a modern client, personally I like Azureus (azureus.sf.net). Finally, it's generally considered good practice to upload at LEAST as much as you download, and some trackers require you to do so or they'll block you in the future.
My understanding is that according to current Canadian copyright laws, we're allowed to make copies of music for personal use. They don't specify where the music can come from, and it doesn't apply...
On a legal side note, BT is a popular method of sharing copy-protected material. In some countries like Canada, it's legal to download material that has been copyrighted but not upload it, well this is not possible with BT (so using BT to download copyrighted material in places like Canada is most likely illegal).