[tor-bugs] #24497 [Webpages/Website]: Improve documentation for tor relay operators

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#24497: Improve documentation for tor relay operators
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 Reporter:  arthuredelstein   |          Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect            |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium            |      Milestone:
Component:  Webpages/Website  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal            |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-team           |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                    |         Points:
 Reviewer:                    |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by cypherpunks):

 Tom, thanks for your valuable feedback!

 Replying to [comment:52 tom]:
 >  - Under relay Requirements, it generally lacks actionable information
 for users. For example: "A relay should be able to handle at least 6k
 concurrent connections (exit relays even more). This can overwhelm some
 consumer-level routers." - is there something a user can do to check this?
 It doesn't say anything about "If you run it from a normal computer or VPS
 you'll be fine" or anything like that. How would a user check their
 upload/download speed?

 I added a variant of your sentence and info on how to measure bw.

 >  - "How well connected is the autonomous system of the hoster?" - I have
 never considered this. I don't even know how I would go about
 investigating it.

 I added information on how to compare to ASes (CAIDA).

 >  - "Does the hoster allow custom WHOIS records for your IP addresses?
 (This helps reduce the amount of abuse sent to the hoster instead of you)"
 "Does the hoster allow you to set a custom DNS reverse entry? (PTR)" -
 these are probably things you'll need to ask in a Pre-Sales ticket.

 added.

 >  - "It is best to avoid hosters where many Tor relays are already
 hosted" - is it better to run no relays, or relays in already-saturated
 ASes?

 added.

 >  - 'Please keep in mind that since most relays run on Debian and we want
 to avoid a monoculture, *BSD based relays are greatly needed.' - what
 about everything that isn't Debian/Ubuntu? Like Mac, Windows, Gentoo,
 Fedora, CentOS....

 Gentoo, Fedora, CentOS are also Linux so maybe lets try to have some other
 kernel?
 I'd say Windows relays are not well supported by the Torproject.

 >  - "A common question with regards to these settings is: "Is it more
 useful to use available monthly traffic in a short amount of time (fast
 bandwidth) or is it better to have a slow relay running all the time?" In
 most cases the former is preferred and recommended. " - Please rephrase
 this paragraph to be a single statement rather than a lead-in, question,
 and then difficult to parse answer.

 I hope it is better now?

 >  - "Note: You have to explicitly specify the IPv6 address" - how does
 one find their IPv6 address?

 added.

 >  - " There are multiple options for DNS server software, unbound has
 become a popular one." - I'd add a note that the OS' package manager
 should allow you to install a DNS resolver, such as unbound, dnsmasq, or
 foo.

 I added "In every case the software should be installed using the OS
 package manager to ensure it is updated with the rest of the system."

 not sure if this is what you were trying to say.

 >  - It takes some time for the traffic directed to new guard/middle relay
 to ramp up. - exit too, no?

 changed to:
 "It takes some time for relay traffic to ramp up, this is especially true
 for guard relays but to a lesser extend also for exit relays"

 >  - I'd suggest adding a section under Part 3 about how hosting providers
 may get annoyed by abuse complaints and demand or shut down relays.
 Suggest users stay on top of abuse complaints and update the GoodBadISPs
 list.

 note to self: TODO


 >  - Also to not be a dick about your Tor relay. You are a reflection of
 the Tor project, and being a dick reflects very badly on us.

 examples?

 >  - https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/tshirt.html says 3 but lists 2

 filed this as #24812

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24497#comment:55>
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