On Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:43:00 +0100 Nick tor-relays@njw.me.uk 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
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