Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
mick: > Forgot to add - take a look at http://www.edis.at/en/home for example. > They have reasonable offerings (but limited on the KVM option) in a > variety of countries and I have already established that they would > be comfortable with non-exit tor relays. Be aware that depending on the data center, the KVM nodes at Edis get rebooted fairly often ... if you want to run a larger relay and be flagged stable, maybe not the best choice. -Gordon ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] hardware
> AMD doesn't seem to make any server CPUs that are useful for this > application, unfortunately. Really, how so? Many AMD CPU's have AES-NI. Even the A10-6800K (4 x 4.1GHz) would be decent. That plus an a85x mainboard (1Gbit) and 8GB ddr3-2133 is $300. Add some case+ps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Accelerated_Processing_Unit_microprocessors#.22Richland.22_.282013.2C_32_nm.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_FX_microprocessors#.22Vishera.22_.2832_nm_SOI.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Opteron_microprocessors#Piledriver_based_Opterons Be careful, Intel likes to promote HT instead of full cores. There's likely some reviews of HT vs. OS schedulers out there. Intel/Opteron get pricy very quick, check price vs. performance vs. the price delta to get a second AMD node up at 2 x nMbps. A lot of the price may be in die/power and cache, which may not be of concern. ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
Nick: > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on server. > The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something less up > (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay with this > bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at least for > now. Unless I'm reading Compass wrong, a relay with 256 Kib/s is likely to be selected as a middle node 1 time out of 1 circuits, if not less… So I'd say it is not useful for the network to add relays with so little bandwidth at the present times. > If not, am I correct in thinking that a bridge is an appropriate > help? That's what I'm doing currently, but if a relay would be more > useful I'd be very happy to do that. It would be a slow bridge, but at least the likelihood it'll be of use is far greater than configuring a relay. > One other unrelated(ish) question: I'm in the UK, where the idea of > censorship isn't resisted as strongly as it ought to be, and as a > result my internet connection is subject to a smallish amount of > censorship: whatever is on the secret IWF blacklist plus the pirate > bay. Does this mean that running an exit node from a home connection > here at some point in the future would not be helpful? Or only if > all HTTP(S) was blocked (as the IWF blacklist is secret there's > presumably no way to tell the tor network what is inaccessible from > this node). Running exit nodes from home connection is usually a bad idea. In case of abuses, law enforcement agencies are likely to believe that whoever lives there is responsible for the abuses. -- Lunar signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
Hi Guys, I would second the cheap VPS option. In the past I have run a relay at home and on a number of cheap VPS providers with only one having an issue with my request to run a relay. Living in the UK I found the low upload speed and dynamic IP made the home relay perform rather poorly while having a notable affect on my home web browsing. Having a cheap VPS also offers the advantage of a remote development platform, the possibility of hosting your own website (a socks proxy has been pretty handy at bypassing my works web proxy). As previously stated, lowendbox is a great place to start looking for one I would suggest going dutch as they offer great performance/bandwidth for your £. BR, Alistair. On 12 July 2013 14:33, mick wrote: > On Fri, 12 Jul 2013 14:22:44 +0100 > mick allegedly wrote: > > > On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:43:00 +0100 > > Nick allegedly wrote: > > > > > Hi there, > > > > > > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on > > > server. The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something > > > less up (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay > > > with this bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at > > > least for now. > > > Nowadays you can get a useful amount of bandwidth (1-2 TiB pcm) on a > > reasonably specced VM (512 Mb RAM, 1 core, 20-40 GB disk) very cheaply > > (on the order of 5-10 UKP pcm, or much less if you shop around). Take > > a look at lowendbox.com for some ideas of offers on cheap VPS. Then do > > some research on the suppliers, contact those you shortlist and be > > open about what you intend to do. > > Forgot to add - take a look at http://www.edis.at/en/home for example. > They have reasonable offerings (but limited on the KVM option) in a > variety of countries and I have already established that they would > be comfortable with non-exit tor relays. > > Mick > > > - > > Mick Morgan > gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 > http://baldric.net > > - > > > ___ > tor-relays mailing list > tor-relays@lists.torproject.org > https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays > > ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
On Fri, 12 Jul 2013 14:22:44 +0100 mick allegedly wrote: > On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:43:00 +0100 > Nick allegedly wrote: > > > Hi there, > > > > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on > > server. The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something > > less up (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay > > with this bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at > > least for now. > Nowadays you can get a useful amount of bandwidth (1-2 TiB pcm) on a > reasonably specced VM (512 Mb RAM, 1 core, 20-40 GB disk) very cheaply > (on the order of 5-10 UKP pcm, or much less if you shop around). Take > a look at lowendbox.com for some ideas of offers on cheap VPS. Then do > some research on the suppliers, contact those you shortlist and be > open about what you intend to do. Forgot to add - take a look at http://www.edis.at/en/home for example. They have reasonable offerings (but limited on the KVM option) in a variety of countries and I have already established that they would be comfortable with non-exit tor relays. Mick - Mick Morgan gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 http://baldric.net - signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:43:00 +0100 Nick allegedly wrote: > Hi there, > > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on server. > The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something less up > (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay with this > bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at least for > now. > > If not, am I correct in thinking that a bridge is an appropriate > help? That's what I'm doing currently, but if a relay would be more > useful I'd be very happy to do that. > > One other unrelated(ish) question: I'm in the UK, where the idea of > censorship isn't resisted as strongly as it ought to be, and as a > result my internet connection is subject to a smallish amount of > censorship: whatever is on the secret IWF blacklist plus the pirate > bay. Does this mean that running an exit node from a home connection > here at some point in the future would not be helpful? Or only if > all HTTP(S) was blocked (as the IWF blacklist is secret there's > presumably no way to tell the tor network what is inaccessible from > this node). Nick I too am in the uk. In my view, running tor on your home broadband connection is probably a bad idea. As you have already noted, the connection is not completely unfiltered and you may find other problems arise as soon as you try to run a relay. I think you might find it almost impossible to successfully run an exit relay without a lot of hassle from your ISP which might end up in your disconnection. Besides that, the amount of bandwidth available on a domestic ADSL is low and you will find that tor impacts heavily on usage unless it is heavily throttled. For several years now I have sucessfully run relays (both exit and non-exit) on fairly cheap VPSs. This has the dual advantage of separating your own connection from tor and of providing dedicated bandwidth to the relay. You will need to check with the VPS provider that they are happy to allow tor. Some are, most aren't and of those most are not happy with exit relays because they end up getting (often robotic) abuse complaints. Of course your VPS does not have to be in the UK. I have run relays with bytemark.co.uk (non-exit), daily.co.uk (exit and non-exit) thrustvps.com (ditto) rapidswitch.com (ditto). I currently use digitalocean.com (in the Netherlands, but a US company) and thrust - though for a variety of reasons I will probably drop thrust at the end of my contract with them and move that one elsewhere. Always/always check the ISP's AUP in advance and then email them telling them what you intend to do before signing up. In my experience, those which are content to allow tor sometimes change their mind after the first few abuse complaints. You then have the option of switching to non-exit, or simply taking your custom elsewhere. It depends on how you want to play things and what you are getting for your money. Nowadays you can get a useful amount of bandwidth (1-2 TiB pcm) on a reasonably specced VM (512 Mb RAM, 1 core, 20-40 GB disk) very cheaply (on the order of 5-10 UKP pcm, or much less if you shop around). Take a look at lowendbox.com for some ideas of offers on cheap VPS. Then do some research on the suppliers, contact those you shortlist and be open about what you intend to do. HTH Mick - Mick Morgan gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 http://baldric.net - signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
Hi Nick, I'm not sure whether the stories are true or not but I have heard of people having their computer kit confiscated for running an exit node. I'd go for a non-exit relay and see how that works. You can limit the bandwidth the node will use, so if you find it eats up all your resource, you can lower it. Just out of interest, which ISP do you use. I'm on Talk Talk and I'm having a lot of hassle setting up a non-exit relay. Just can't seem to get it to stay on-line. Cheers, Richard > Hi there, > > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on server. > The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something less up > (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay with this > bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at least for > now. > > If not, am I correct in thinking that a bridge is an appropriate > help? That's what I'm doing currently, but if a relay would be more > useful I'd be very happy to do that. > > One other unrelated(ish) question: I'm in the UK, where the idea of > censorship isn't resisted as strongly as it ought to be, and as a > result my internet connection is subject to a smallish amount of > censorship: whatever is on the secret IWF blacklist plus the pirate > bay. Does this mean that running an exit node from a home connection > here at some point in the future would not be helpful? Or only if > all HTTP(S) was blocked (as the IWF blacklist is secret there's > presumably no way to tell the tor network what is inaccessible from > this node). > > Thanks in advance, > > Nick > ___ > tor-relays mailing list > tor-relays@lists.torproject.org > https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays > -- Best Wishes, Richard ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
Re: [tor-relays] Home broadband - worth running a relay?
Thanks for the advice Thomas. What's the exact meaning of RelayBandwidthRate in torrc? I ask because I found having more than about 20Kib/s upload limit for bittorrent made my connection largely unusable, but leaving it without a download limit was fine (damn asynchronicity). How should I decide what an appropriate value should be? Twice the maximum upload limit I can devote to it? Or if I left the value unset would tor likely do a good enough job of deciding on an appropriate bandwidth value? Nick Quoth Thomas Hand: > Hi Nick, > I was in a similar boat to you for a while. Also UK based with adsl and a > dynamic IP. I found that running a non-exit relay node is fine so long you > limit bandwidth usage in torrc. Wouldn't recommended exit relay unless you > want to deal with your ISP. > If you only run a relay then the censorship list doesn't matter since all > connections between nodes are encrypted, any exit node would suffer > restrictions. I have heard UK ISP s like to monitor protocol and port usage > and sometimes block certain ports. You can always change the port usage in > torrc if you find certain ports blocked. If you find running relay uses too > much bandwidth then going back to running the bridge is very useful for > helping censored users and uses much less bandwidth. A dynamic IP in my > experience can cause the node to become unresponsive and it may need to be > restarted every few days or every week. I have a script set up which emails > me when my afsl node goes down for example. > Hope this helps. > > T > On Jul 11, 2013 9:42 PM, "Nick" wrote: > > > Hi there, > > > > I have a reasonable ADSL connection, and a little always-on server. > > The bandwidth is in the region of 2Mib/s down, something less up > > (maybe 256Kib/s). Is it useful for me to run a tor relay with this > > bandwidth? I'd like to run one which isn't an exit, at least for > > now. > > > > If not, am I correct in thinking that a bridge is an appropriate > > help? That's what I'm doing currently, but if a relay would be more > > useful I'd be very happy to do that. > > > > One other unrelated(ish) question: I'm in the UK, where the idea of > > censorship isn't resisted as strongly as it ought to be, and as a > > result my internet connection is subject to a smallish amount of > > censorship: whatever is on the secret IWF blacklist plus the pirate > > bay. Does this mean that running an exit node from a home connection > > here at some point in the future would not be helpful? Or only if > > all HTTP(S) was blocked (as the IWF blacklist is secret there's > > presumably no way to tell the tor network what is inaccessible from > > this node). > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > Nick > > ___ > > tor-relays mailing list > > tor-relays@lists.torproject.org > > https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays > > > ___ > tor-relays mailing list > tor-relays@lists.torproject.org > https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays ___ tor-relays mailing list tor-relays@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
