[tor-relays] optimize performance of a relay running on a VM

[Random Tor Node Operator]

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> root at tor:/ # cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep aes cat: /proc/cpuinfo: No
> such file or directory

According to a stackoverflow page [2], you can look for hints
indicating the existence of AES-NI support in "sysctl hw" and
/var/run/dmesg.boot


> PID USERNAME    THR PRI NICE   SIZE    RES STATE    TIME    WCPU
> COMMAND 675 _tor          2  20    0   130M   126M sbwait 567:31
> 7.96% tor Uses maximum 10-12% of the available CPU. Uses maximum
> 150 - 160 MB of RAM. (~15%)

okay, so CPU doesn't seem to be a bottleneck, as expected.

You could try downloading a large (some 100 MBs) file from a fast
server via wget to see whether you can saturate your downstream.


> here is one I am freebie hired to maintain: 
> 6C36F9ACBA57AC9C10DBC39D330CFA337522E72B

It is an Exit relay. I am not sure, maybe Tor is designed in a way
that Exits are strongly preferred for Exit connections, so they get
less traffic for HSDir/V2Dir requests or for being a Rendezvous Point
or Introduction Point for Hidden Services. That is mostly speculation
on my part though. I never had any Exit relays on my own.
Probably the Tor Path Specification [3] has the answer to that question.


Your relay seems to be the only one in that /16 subnet, so that
wouldn't be a reason for less-than-normal traffic.


[2]
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4083848/what-is-the-equivalent-of-proc-cpuinfo-on-freebsd-v8-1

[3]
https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git?a=blob_plain;hb=HEAD;f=path-spec.txt
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