Join the ED2K revolution. The largest file sharing community on the net, get in the party! eDonkey is an application that allows you to share and download files with millions of other people across the globe. It is fast and easy to use with the most sophisticated file sharing technology available.

What is eDonkey?

eDonkey is an application that allows you to share and download files with millions of other people across the globe. It is fast and easy to use with the most sophisticated file sharing technology available.The newest version of eDonkey2000 connects to both the eDonkey2000 and OverNet networks. Both of these networks use the same protocols to share files. The biggest difference between the two is OverNet is serverless, while eDonkey2000 is server-based.

eDonkey is the most advanced file sharing application around. It is a completely decentralized peer to peer network. It allows you to trade any type of file, mp3s, video, images, software, etc. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Users on eDonkey2000 predominantly share large files of tens or hundreds of megabytes, such as CD images, videos, games, and software programs. To ease file searching, some websites list the checksums of sought-after files in the form of an ed2k link. Some of those websites also have lists of active servers for users to update.

What is Overnet?

Overnet is a decentralized peer-to-peer computer network, usually used for sharing large files (e.g., movies and CD images). Overnet implements the Kademlia algorithm. Overnet is the distributed search network that the donkey uses to find files. It was a standalone application but we have now combined both clients into one.

eDonkey2000 has all of these features:

• When searching on the server based network (eDonkey2000), it doesn’t rely on one central server yet searches are still quick and your client doesn’t get bogged down with endless search requests. You have the ability to search all the files being shared anywhere on the eDonkey2000 network.
• No central server. Servers can be located anywhere at any IP address.
• It allows you to transfer any type of file. It automatically resumes interrupted transfers from alternate sources. It even introduces ways to share a whole collection of files together so you can be sure to get all the songs in an album or all pieces of a movie. Users will be able to download a file from multiple sources at the same time thus insuring that transfers will be as fast as possible.
• Files can be uploaded while being downloaded. This insures that a rare file that is wanted by many people will be distributed as quickly as possible.
• Downloads are automatically continued from session to session.
• Dynamic ports. The donkey can be configured to run over any port.
• The server and client are both distributed for free. There are Linux, Windows, and Mac versions available.

FAQ:

Description:

eMule is an open source program for the eDonkey network. Unlike several programs, eDonkey does not have one central server. There are literally hundreds of servers out there, each of them run by another eDonkey user, wanting to help the network.

eDonkey is smart enough to tell the difference between two files, even if they have the same file size and name. This has two advantages, firstly it ensures that unique files are properly presented, and secondly, that when several identical files are found eDonkey can download from those independent sources at the same time, making your downloads faster! This unique file identification also allows you to create links to the files you have.

Some other features the network provides are:
- Share and Download any type of file.
- No central server. Servers can be located anywhere at any IP address.
- Search all users connected to the service no matter which server they are logged onto.
- Download a file from several different users at once.
- Downloads are automatically continued from session to session.
- User created collections. So you can be sure and get all files that belong together.
- Simultaneous uploading and downloading of the same file.
- Dynamic ports. The donkey can be configured to run over any port.

eDonkey also has a strong user community, with users from around the world participating in chats and forums.

eMule came onto the scene because eDonkey hadn’t been updated in quite a while and was becoming outdated. (The reason for this is because the author created a new network and program called OverNet…more on that later.) eMule is open source meaning that anyone can download the source code and edit it any way that they wish.

This has caused quite a few “mods” to now surface and many options are now available to the end user. A mod is a modification of the basic eMule software. Mods generally contain bug fixes, enhancements to the user interface, as well as enhancements to the actual client so that it has more features. Of course, you don’t have to use a mod. You can always use the official emule.

Getting Connected:

Generally eDonkey nor eMule connect automatically to servers. The newest versions of eMule do connect automatically, but you still must get a serverlist. A severlist is basically a list of all the servers ‘live’ at that moment so that you can connect to the network. It is important that you keep your serverlist updated. Most people recommend updating it at least every other day. A couple places you can find that have serverlists are: ocbMaurice and http://ed2k.has.it Once you get a serverlist, simply open up eDonkey or eMule and import the serverlist into it. The serverlist will most probably be a .met file. You can either download the file to your computer, or just type in the link to the file in eMule/eDonkey.

Once you are connected to a server, you are assigned an ID number. An ID number is simply a way to identify you. If you have an ID that is under the millions such as in the thousands or hundreds, you have a Low ID. A Low ID is not good. You can still upload and download with a Low ID, but not nearly as proficient. If you have a Low ID, you can go here for help.

Searching:

Even though users are connected to only one server, searching is fast and comprehensive. When you do a search, it is carried throughout the whole network and the most relevant results show up. But searching is not really what eDonkey was made for. The best advantage of the eDonkey network is the use of hashing files.

A hash is a way of uniquely identifying every single file on the network. That way, it is very hard to get any fakes. People then put links on websites that the user has to do is click on the link and it is automatically added to the download list (much like Sig2dat for Kazaa). So by going to one of these “file-indexing” sites, it is much more efficient than simply searching for the file you would like in the search window of eMule/eDonkey.

Once you get to a file-indexing site, such as ShareReactor, search on the site for the file you want. When you find the file, click on it and it will be automatically in your download list.

The Future?
The author of eDonkey recently created a new network called OverNet. OverNet works on much of the same principles as the eDonkey network, except that it is serverless. No servers is a safety precaution for it is harder for organizations like the RIAA and MPAA to shut it down.

Once OverNet was stable enough, the author then went back to eDonkey and updated it. Now eDonkey supports both the OverNet and eDonkey networks. eMule should also have support for OverNet soon; at present, it does not.

Last week saw another addition to the eDonkey network as well. Shareaza, the well known gnutella and G2 client, also incorporated the eDonkey network into its client. mlDonkey is another client that supports multiple networks, including eDonkey and OverNet. One word of caution though: many servers do not like mlDonkey and ban it upon the client connecting.