[tor-bugs] #22798 [Core Tor/Tor]: Windows relay is several times slower than Linux relay

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Mon Jul 3 08:16:49 UTC 2017


#22798: Windows relay is several times slower than Linux relay
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
 Reporter:  Vort                                 |          Owner:
     Type:  defect                               |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:  Tor:
                                                 |  unspecified
Component:  Core Tor/Tor                         |        Version:  Tor:
                                                 |  0.2.9.11
 Severity:  Normal                               |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  tor-relay network performance win32  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                                       |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
Changes (by teor):

 * severity:  Major => Normal


Old description:

> I have launched two relays: first one in native mode on Windows, second
> one in virtual machine on Linux.
>
> Then measured their bandwidth using three-hop circuit: refEntry, myRelay,
> refExit
> refEntry is
> [[https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/13B2354C74CCE29815B4E1F692F2F0E86C7F13DD|13B2354C74CCE29815B4E1F692F2F0E86C7F13DD]]
> refExit is
> [[https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/07C05ED4825F51D5BE4CDBBAA80BFA484132A2F5|07C05ED4825F51D5BE4CDBBAA80BFA484132A2F5]]
>
> Windows version of Tor was able to provide 51 KiB/s.
> Linux version - 163 KiB/s, which is three times higher.
>
> But this was my measurements.
> BwAuth ratings for this relays are far more different:
> Windows one have weight = 18 (19/13/22/18).
> Linux one got weight = 1030 (293/1030/1460).
>
> Which leads to actual traffic rising from 1 KiB/s to ~500 KiB/s.
>
> I can keep relay in virtual machine for a while, but it would be much
> better if Windows version gets fixed.
>
> Here are the versions of software used in tests:
> OS: Windows 7 SP1 x64 (host)
> OS: Ubuntu 16.04 x64 (guest)
> VM: VirtualBox 5.1.22
> Tor: 0.2.9.11 (Linux)
> Tor: 0.2.9.11, 0.3.0.8 (Windows)
>
> Also I have obtained TCP packets dump from relay's network interface:
> https://yadi.sk/d/2XrUmz3A3KgqZb
>
> Packets 1-1584 are slow transfer (Windows relay).
> Packets 1585-8659 are fast transfer (Linux VM relay).
>
> I can made additional tests and provide additional information if needed.

New description:

 I have launched two relays: first one in native mode on Windows, second
 one in virtual machine on Linux.

 Then measured their bandwidth using three-hop circuit: refEntry, myRelay,
 refExit
 refEntry is
 [[https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/13B2354C74CCE29815B4E1F692F2F0E86C7F13DD|13B2354C74CCE29815B4E1F692F2F0E86C7F13DD]]
 refExit is
 [[https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/07C05ED4825F51D5BE4CDBBAA80BFA484132A2F5|07C05ED4825F51D5BE4CDBBAA80BFA484132A2F5]]

 Windows version of Tor was able to provide 51 KiB/s.
 Linux version - 163 KiB/s, which is three times higher.

 But this was my measurements.
 BwAuth ratings for this relays are far more different:
 Windows one have weight = 18 (19/13/22/18).
 Linux one got weight = 1030 (293/1030/1460).

 Which leads to actual traffic rising from 1 KiB/s to ~500 KiB/s.

 I can keep relay in virtual machine for a while, but it would be much
 better if Windows version gets fixed.

 Here are the versions of software used in tests:
 OS: Windows 7 SP1 x64 (host)
 OS: Ubuntu 16.04 x64 (guest)
 VM: VirtualBox 5.1.22
 Tor: 0.2.9.11 (Linux)
 Tor: 0.2.9.11, 0.3.0.8 (Windows)

 Also I have obtained TCP packets dump from relay's network interface:
 (REDACTED)

 Packets 1-1584 are slow transfer (Windows relay).
 Packets 1585-8659 are fast transfer (Linux VM relay).

 I can made additional tests and provide additional information if needed.

--

Comment:

 Hi,

 Thanks for reporting this issue.

 We know that relays on Windows are slower than on Linux.
 On the public network, 99% of relays are Linux or BSD.
 But most clients are Windows.
 So we would like to make tor perform better on Windows.
 But we need more Windows developers to help out so we can do this.

 If CPU load is high on Windows, you can help by providing a performance
 profile that shows where tor spends most of its CPU time. If it's not,
 then I'm not sure what to look at next. Maybe someone who has experience
 with Windows network server and performance can help.

 Also, please don't post detailed network flows from the live Tor network,
 it's not safe for users.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/22798#comment:1>
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