Xunlei

Infobox Software
name = Thunder



caption =
collapsible =
author =
developer = Thunder Networking Technologies (a.k.a. Xunlei Networking Technologies)
released =
latest release version = 5.8.4.575
latest release date = 2008-08-20
latest preview version =
latest preview date =
frequently updated =
programming language =
operating system = Microsoft Windows
platform =
size =
language = Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
status =
genre = Peer-to-peer file sharing
license = Adware
website = [http://www.xunlei.com/ Xunlei website]

Xunlei or Thunder (zh-cpl|c=迅雷|p=Xùnléi|l=Thunderbolt)cite web|url=http://gigaom.com/2006/12/07/xunlei/|title=Google to Invest in Chinese P2P Startup Xunlei?|work=GigaOM|first=Katie|last=Fehrenbacher|date=2006-12-07|accessdate=2007-05-31] is a popular Chinese download manager and file sharing client that supports BitTorrent, eDonkey, Kad, and FTP. It is mainly used in the Mainland China and the software is only available in Chinese, although recently an English translation has been released. The client is developed by Thunder Networking Technologies, a Shenzhen startup formerly known as Sandai Technologies (三代科技).

They also offer download accelerating services which have been downloaded and installed by over 80 million users. Xunlei's websites attract over fifty million hits per daycite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-01/04/content_774220.htm|title=Google to buy stake in Xunlei|work=China Daily|first=Wang|last=Xu|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2007-05-31] .

Operation Mechanism

Xunlei accelerates downloads by accessing its proprietary P2P network in addition to the given HTTP download. By default it scans the user's computer and automatically shares all files across the Xunlei network, and often exhausts the user's upload bandwidth as it does not provide a real upload speed limiter. The user has no means of limiting what to be shared or not to be shared. [cite web|url=http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/48566.htm|author="ugmbbc"|date=2008-02-03|title=Beware! Your files are being stolen by Xunlei!|work=Graphical Technological Analysis|publisher=cnBeta.COM|language=Chinese|accessdate=2008-04-27]

Google Investment

On January 5, 2007, Google acquired a 4% stake for a reported $5 million in the company that developed Xunlei, with hopes of expanding Google's market base in China. Contrary to rumours earlier in the year, Google did not purchase a majority stake in the Chinese company.

References

External links

* [http://www.xunlei.com/ Xunlei website]
* [http://dl.xunlei.com/ Xunlei download]
* [http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-061227google-china-story,0,7258703.story Google to invest in Chinese video website - Bloomberg] - brief report on the Google investment
* [http://www.imfirewall.com/en/protocols/xunlei.htm How to Block Xunlei - IMFirewall] - information of ports used by Xunlei
* [http://hehehunter.blogspot.com/2008/04/translated-xunlei-language-pack.html English language pack for the Xunlei Client]