Looking for tips on seeding more, what kind of hardware to use.

I've been struggling to get ratios over even 1.0, most are stuck in the low 0.10 - 0.20 range. I don't seed off my gaming PC 24/7 because I don't want a VPN on all the time, plus I turn it off at night.

So mainly wondering if anyone has tips on a good setup to keep the PC seeding overnight, I'm running linux mint currently. I also have a RaspPi but I understand they are not great for torrents?

Is there any good way to compartmentalize a VPN? I.e., use the VPN for qBitTorrent only, and use my regular network adapter for other stuff (games, browsers, whatever).

I've tried a seedbox in the past and they're neat, but I'd rather avoid a subscription and just use my hardware. I'm using Private Internet Access VPN until my already paid for time is up in case that's significant.

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Condom.

As your already on Linux I'd recommend running qBittorrent with Docker behind gluetun.
This makes it so only qBittorrent is behind the VPN and all other traffic (e.g. browsing, gaming) goes as if there was no VPN.
- Definitely will look into Docker more, I've heard of it but hadn't gotten around to giving it a shot before. Gluetun is not something I've heard of though. Sounds like a good setup for what I want. Any suggestions on getting started with Docker?
  
  Use docker compose. Not docker directly. All services have a good docker compose file somewhere online. If not, you may not use the service as a beginner (unless you want to spend a significant time writing everything which is of course good, but you do not have to)
  
  Docker is really cool tech, but not that easy to get it right the first time you run into it. The easy suggestion would probably be some YouTube videos? But the best would be to find your way on the web and follow some written tutorials that gives more details.
  Depending on how far and deep you want to go with docker it can range from a simple command you copy/past to more advanced stuff where you add new tools into the image.
  My first contact with docker was through Network Chuck's video, while it gives you a first feeling on what it does and how it work at the basic level, it won't give you the keys to host qbitorrent behind gluetun on a raspberry pie, let alone on how to properly configure and protect it.

i have a raspberry pi 4 and it's completely fine running 24/7 with torrents. Granted, with 3MB/s upload it's currently hitting one core at 60% but I use Dietpi which has a nice utility to reduce the CPU priority on qbittorrent if another service needs it.
Plus, you could set up a samba share, store your torrents on the shared drive, and copy them to your Main PC when you need em. Doesnt need to be sophisticated.

The answer for doing this on your PC is Docker with one of the open source containers built for this. For example this.
If you want a dedicated machine, your Pi would do just fine but you'll have to connect your storage where the downloads are to it. You should still use Docker for that since it's the easiest setup and it would take care of important corner cases such as blocking seed when the VPN is down.

Power is a big factor. I've never built a specifically torrenting machine, but I've added torrenting containers to my virtualized NAS, and for that I've built a server based on an AsRock integrated board, it's passively cooled so it's silent and intrinsically power efficient. They're usually limited in RAM, but I got it up to 32GB by buying verified compatible sticks.
As for building ratio, something like autobrr helps get the torrents as soon as they are announced, improving your uploads, and on trackers where it is supported, seed bonus is nice, you can keep seeding old torrents and convert the points to upload.

Split tunnels? And your vpn is owned by a sketchy company watch out.
- I guess I could've made that part a DDG search :) Thank you for the reminder, it does sound like exactly what I wanted on a little more research.
  
  It’s a pretty good feature. I usually use it for gaming. VPNs and online games don’t always get along. If you torrent a lot, Mullvad might not be the best choice because it doesn’t support port forwarding. IVPN, Proton VPN, and AirVPN are better options.
- Split tunnels sounds familiar and like what I want.
  I plan to switch to mullvad in the future, figure for low stakes stuff I can use up the rest of PIA for now. Thanks for the heads up though
  
  If you want to get in to private trackers at some point, Mullvad isn't an option because they don't support port forwarding. Just a PSA because Mullvad does monthly payments, so you'll be able to switch anytime.
  Proton VPN and AirVPN do support port forwarding.
- I used to pay for PIA while it was still a Denver owned company, until it got bought out a few years back and stopped my subscription.
  Nord was the only other one I found to have commensurate features and possibly better than PIA

It also depends on your tracker. I swear all my open tracker seeds are 5.0 plus but many private one’s are barely .10. I think it’s a mix of popularity and port issues.

I run a small PC (ProLian Gen10) with a power consumtion of 40W 24/7. What is your upload speed? Are the torrents you want to seed even wanted? If nobody needs to download them, you wont upload much. Does your VPN supports Port forwarding?
- A smaller dedicated PC has been something I've been considering, maybe a used laptop even?
  Not sure what upload speeds I'm getting but I do have high capacities. Also considering getting into private trackers because I'd like to be maintaining a high ratio.
  Sadly my situation is incompatible with port forwarding with any VPN.
  
  incompatible with port forwarding with any VPN
  I'm not sure if there is a misunderstanding here, but port forwarding through a VPN is generally agnostic of most network setups. It's a tunnel, doesn't require your network to have port forwarding setup or even for it to be capable of it.

27 comments