[tor-bugs] #20098 [Metrics/CollecTor]: Make reference checker more accurate

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#20098: Make reference checker more accurate
-----------------------------------+-----------------
     Reporter:  karsten            |      Owner:
         Type:  enhancement        |     Status:  new
     Priority:  Medium             |  Milestone:
    Component:  Metrics/CollecTor  |    Version:
     Severity:  Normal             |   Keywords:
Actual Points:                     |  Parent ID:
       Points:                     |   Reviewer:
      Sponsor:                     |
-----------------------------------+-----------------
 As of February this year we're using a reference checker to spot missing
 descriptors that reads files in `recent/relay-descriptors/` and warns if
 too many referenced descriptors cannot be found.

 However, our reference checker has been too noisy for me to pay much
 attention.

 I didn't look at the logs in detail yet, but I came up with a possible
 improvement: we should only count an extra-info descriptor as missing if
 the referencing server descriptor is referenced from a consensus or vote.
 This is supposed to exclude all extra-info descriptors that are referenced
 from server descriptors uploaded to the directory authorities by bogus
 relays without also uploading the corresponding extra-info descriptors.

 Maybe there are other tweaks that make these warnings more accurate and
 again worth checking by the operator.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/20098>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online