Dear list members,
I am running a tor relay, but I have an upload limit (50GB/7 days). This limit usually can't be increased too much, because that might affect other network users.
I would like to request my provider (university) for a bandwidth-free connection during the night (or whenever the network is not used very much), and a limited version during the peak times. My idea is that this way I could contribute to the Tor network without disturbing other users of my university network.
Before I do so, however, I am curious whether it actually contributes to the Tor network. I noticed it takes time for the bandwidth to increase, and if my daytime upload limit is low (e.g. 80 kb/s) and unlimited (Gb/s) at night, my overall contribution could be very limited due to the time it takes Tor to utilize my available bandwidth.
Do you have any insights in this matter?
Thanks in advance!
PS: currently, I drain the 50GB in about a day unlimited or I run at very slow speeds... Both don't give me the feeling I really contribute.
On Sun, Feb 16, 2014 at 08:54:07PM +0100, Bram L wrote:
Before I do so, however, I am curious whether it actually contributes to the Tor network. I noticed it takes time for the bandwidth to increase, and if my daytime upload limit is low (e.g. 80 kb/s) and unlimited (Gb/s) at night, my overall contribution could be very limited due to the time it takes Tor to utilize my available bandwidth.
Right -- as you note, the bandwidth authority measurers have no notion of looking for daily/weekly/etc patterns like this.
Do you have any insights in this matter?
A better bet might be to simply run your relay, at the Gb/s rate, only during the times when you're allowed to use the fast rate. The relay won't get the Guard flag because it won't be suitable for use at that rate enough of the time, but the bwauths will remember their last measurements of it each time it comes back, so it should get back in use pretty quickly after returning each day.
You could even arrange to have it come back an hour or two before you want things to ramp up, so there's time for it to get into the consensus, get noticed by clients, etc.
--Roger
tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
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Bram L -
Roger Dingledine