Hello all,
This is my seventh, and final biweekly status report for my hidden service scaling / load-balancing SoP project.
Since my last status report:
* I have been revising my patch for #14846 with the aim of getting it merged before the 0.2.7 feature freeze.
* I've been working with Ivan Markin on getting smart cards supported for signing in OnionBalance. Thank you Ivan for your code and enthusiasm.
Although the Summer of Privacy program is now over, I plan to continue maintaining and developing this project into the future. My immediate objectives are to:
* Package OnionBalance in Debian * Clarifying the documentation (installation, use cases, storing master hidden service keys on an isolated machine). * Implementing smartcard / HSM support master service key storage and signing.
Work on the Complex Mode is advancing but I am not yet satisfied with the reliability of that mode. I will also further investigate any potential attacks or risks with that mode.
Proposals #224 (next-gen hidden services) and #246 (merging hidden service directories and introduction points) are still developing. I'll continue developing OnionBalance so that if possible, it can facilitate some form of load balancing and redundancy with next-gen hidden services.
I'd like to thank my mentors David Goulet and George Kadianakis for their invaluable guidance and feedback during the Summer of Privacy. Other members of the Tor community, in particular s7r, have been exceptional helpful with testing OnionBalance and offering feedback from a hidden service operator perspective.
Finally I'd like to thank all in the wider Tor community for the welcome and support you have shown me over the past months. I hope that I can continue making contributions to the Tor community into the future.
Regards, Donncha