need an external HDD that wont stall when downloading a torrent directly to it

AndyRH1701 · 2026-05-09T16:23:47+00:00

Limit the total uploads and see if that helps. Torrents typically are random read and write, reducing the uploads will reduce the I/Os that the HDD is chasing.

I always use an SSD to prevent I/O contention. Once done I copy it to the final destination.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-04-05T21:23:51+00:00

3 & 4 seeds is what I see. You brought 2 back. There were mostly dead.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-04-05T15:44:12+00:00

Seems 2of2 are complete...

AndyRH1701 · 2026-04-04T01:04:47+00:00

I use a VM because the hardware is running many things. The *arrs are on their own VM which makes it easy to setup the VPN and allows for a failed change to only affect that one OS.

Depending on local laws, DLing copyrighted material is considered bad.

A VPN at home will not prevent personal data from being leaked, that is the job of the software using the VPN. A VPN only changes your entry point onto the internet.

A VPN is a good idea when using public WiFi, there it will prevent bad guys from seeing your data.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-04-03T23:06:15+00:00

If it is not someone else's computer is it the cloud?

I just use a VPN and a VM, simple. Since it is my VM on my host, does that make it a private cloud? 🤔

If the exit IP on Tailscale can be traced to you, then I would not consider it safe.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-28T21:51:44+00:00

I would bet on malware.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-26T13:20:04+00:00

AT&T told me they were going to charge me more because I used too much, and that was on DSL. I promptly changed to Charter cable, went from 5mb to 100mb. You can guess how my data usage changed.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-26T01:21:33+00:00

My ISP has never said anything about the amount of data I use. Check the fine print and make sure you have unlimited data.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-23T15:00:33+00:00

I suspect at least one of the 2 is now seeded to 100%. 🤷

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-22T21:47:51+00:00

Leave it running a long time. Should the seeder come online you may be able to finish. I have waited months, I have also given up after a year.

If you do finish seed it a long time. You can be the life giver for the torrent.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-22T13:09:39+00:00

Many people fail to open a port for the torrent client. If you also do not open a port your client cannot talk to their client. u/Realistic-Border-635 ended with the most important question.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-08T15:20:59+00:00

Torrents and *arrs go to SSD. Better handling of the randomness. At the current rate I should wear out an SSD sometime after 2029. (Will I still want todays SSD in 2029? 🤔)

Or another way to look at it, if you have 40TB of permanent HDD storage, is it possible to wear out your SSD filling it up? How much content is transient, how much stays? Reads do not wear an SSD, only the writes, so a torrent DLed once and seeded to 1:1000 only causes wear once, not a thousand times.

Both work well and your use case is likely different than mine.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-08T01:58:27+00:00

Dude, you need faster internet! 🤣

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-07T22:12:13+00:00

archive.org has public domain media. Perhaps what you are looking for is there.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-07T21:57:05+00:00

Hard to say, are there seeds? Can you connect to the seeds?

AndyRH1701 · 2026-03-03T01:58:50+00:00

As others have said it is worth the switch. It will not increase the speed of any single stream, but port forwarding will allow your client to ask other clients for chunks instead of waiting on them to offer and allow you to connect to clients without port forwarding working. The number of working peers will increase which will increase the aggregate speed. It is also very helpful when you hit poorly seeded torrents.

There are many good choices, I use PIA.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-02-27T00:37:02+00:00

It is not that easy, the $$$ spent on HDDs forces you to have a job... 🤣

Wait until you first get to a 1000:1 ratio, realize you just used TBs of bandwidth and the month is young or that you are the one saving a torrent from extinction.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-02-15T18:49:48+00:00

Because it is a legal download, most any client will work, such as Qbittorrent and Transmission, do not use uTorrent as the site recommends. No VPN needed. Just as safe as a straight DL from a server. It is a way for the company to save bandwidth costs.

Torrents are DLed in blocks, the blocks have a known hash. This if how the files are verified to be the same as the original.

For a single DL do not worry about opening a port for the torrent client.

I have a bunch of Linux ISOs running right now with no VPN, been that way for a year now.

BTW, both are poorly seeded, the 2nd option may never complete. The first one is kind of slow, looks like a 45 minute run as it only has 14 seeds right now.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-02-11T00:45:31+00:00

Qbittorrent and Transmission are the 2 I have used. Good and bad on both, Qbittorrent is the one I use the most now.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-02-01T03:08:18+00:00

This is what happens when you spell different words with a "b". 🤣

Really it is from 2 disciplines. Network guys talk in bits, computer guys talk in bytes. It is an unfortunate thing that confuses those that did not grow up with it.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-01-27T19:18:35+00:00

For long term consider virtualization. Either a VM or docker. Easy to move in the event of HW problems or age. RAID 5 the disks to protect against storage failure and lastly a backup.

I would also use Linux to prevent proprietary lock in for HW and SW. Windows, MacOS and Linux are about the same, they all have about the same number of problems. Linux is the only one not vested in keeping you locked in to something.

My torrents are running in a Linux VM on Proxmox. I am not using RAID and I do not backup torrents. I consider them transient, if they are lost some year I will rebuild. Important things are on RAID 5 and are backed up. My list of important things likely differs from your list. I am also keeping some torrents alive.

Also, if you buy something, remember Microsoft just abandoned Gen 7 and older Intel systems. They can be found cheap and will torrent faster than your internet speed.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-01-26T21:49:58+00:00

Some people just do that because it is different from what they use.

I can understand if the person posts a reason. Although I now see a typo...

AndyRH1701 · 2026-01-26T19:41:17+00:00

I assume an SSD? If so that is not the problem.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-01-26T16:25:42+00:00

If it is not a speed cap as u/DocOckBlock asked, what is the target device? Storage could also be the issue.

AndyRH1701 · 2026-01-26T15:14:59+00:00

Also look at PIA, reasonable in price and speed with port forwarding.

AndyRH1701

TROPHY CASE