I've been running a middle relay on a VPS for about 2 months now. The provider limits the monthly data transferred to 5TB but does not charge for over-usage. Instead, the bandwidth is throttled to 1Mb/s after the limit is reached until the 1st of the next month.
I currently have AccountingMax set to 2.5 TB (since it's the max in each direction) and AccountingStart set to "month 1 00:00". Generally that 5TB limit is hit between the 15th and 17th of the month, causing the relay to go dormant until the 1st.
What I'm wondering is:
1 - Is it better for the network if the relay is active 24/7, even if sometimes it's much slower?
2 - Will it negatively affect my relay's reputation if sometimes it's very slow?
Or, just ask the provider for more bandwidth per month, generally now in 2023 it's pretty damn cheap.
I had not considered this, but when contacted my VPS provider offered another 5TB for an additional $3/month. Considering the box only costs $4/month, I think this is the best option.
I'll probably remove all limits for January and just see how much traffic gets transferred.
···
---
Thanks,
Dan
On Thursday, December 21st, 2023 at 8:04 AM, George Hartley via tor-relays <tor-relays@lists.torproject.org> wrote:
Hi Dan,
>1 - Is it better for the network if the relay is active 24/7, even if sometimes it's much slower?
Generally according to the relay requirements a relay is considered useful if it can at least route 2MB/s or 16 MBit/s steadily.
However, I think you should get away with 1MB/s or 8 MBit/s.
> 2 - Will it negatively affect my relay's reputation if sometimes it's very slow?
The Tor authorities might reduce your middle probability, but you will not be punished in any way, and as soon as automatic bandwidth measurements confirm that you have more capacity available,
the authorities should start directing more traffic to your relay.
Some possible other ideas:
Rate-limit traffic to your relay using RelayBandwidthRate and RelayBandwidthBurst, but with only 5TB of monthly traffic you will end up rate-limiting it to somewhere in the 1,8 to 2MB/s range to not hit your traffic cap.
Or, just ask the provider for more bandwidth per month, generally now in 2023 it's pretty damn cheap.
All the best,
George
> Hi all,
>
> I've been running a middle relay on a VPS for about 2 months now. The provider limits the monthly data transferred to 5TB but does not charge for over-usage. Instead, the bandwidth is throttled to 1Mb/s after the limit is reached until the 1st of the next month.
>
> I currently have AccountingMax set to 2.5 TB (since it's the max in each direction) and AccountingStart set to "month 1 00:00". Generally that 5TB limit is hit between the 15th and 17th of the month, causing the relay to go dormant until the 1st.
>
> What I'm wondering is:
>
> 1 - Is it better for the network if the relay is active 24/7, even if sometimes it's much slower?
> 2 - Will it negatively affect my relay's reputation if sometimes it's very slow?
>
> Thank you
>
> --
> Dan
>
> _______________________________________________
> tor-relays mailing list
> tor-relays@lists.torproject.org
> tor-relays Info Page
There’s of course another option. Change your provider unless it’s important to you to use them in particular. The market is full of good deals with very good bandwidth allowances. I really don’t understand how some providers can get away with using bandwidth as money grab.
I use my own bare metal but I also got myself a VPS for some tests and once I was done with my tests, it was so cheap that I kept it and turned it into a Tor relay. I’m not suggesting that you use them, I’m just showing you one of the options out there
For 4.99 (4.49 if you’re outside Europe because they won’t charge you tax) you’ll get 4 cores 8 GB Ram and 40 TB of monthly bandwidth and they don’t count the download.
I’ve set up the relay bandwidth to RelayBandwidthRate 176 MBits and it’s been consistently relaying about 36 to 38 TB monthly for the past 10 months and never goes over 40. I hardly even look at it except for updates.
There are plenty of providers out there that offer you good deals like this
Cheers
···
On 12/22/2023 10:30 AM, Dan wrote:
Hi George,
Thanks for all the input.
Or, just ask the provider for more bandwidth per month, generally now in 2023 it's pretty damn cheap.
I had not considered this, but when contacted my VPS provider offered another 5TB for an additional $3/month. Considering the box only costs $4/month, I think this is the best option.
I'll probably remove all limits for January and just see how much traffic gets transferred.
---
Thanks,
Dan
On Thursday, December 21st, 2023 at 8:04 AM, George Hartley via tor-relays [<tor-relays@lists.torproject.org>](mailto:tor-relays@lists.torproject.org) wrote:
Hi Dan,
1 - Is it better for the network if the relay is active 24/7, even if sometimes it's much slower?
Generally according to the relay requirements a relay is considered useful if it can at least route 2MB/s or 16 MBit/s steadily.
However, I think you should get away with 1MB/s or 8 MBit/s.
2 - Will it negatively affect my relay's reputation if sometimes it's very slow?
The Tor authorities might reduce your middle probability, but you will not be punished in any way, and as soon as automatic bandwidth measurements confirm that you have more capacity available,
the authorities should start directing more traffic to your relay.
Some possible other ideas:
Rate-limit traffic to your relay using RelayBandwidthRate and RelayBandwidthBurst, but with only 5TB of monthly traffic you will end up rate-limiting it to somewhere in the 1,8 to 2MB/s range to not hit your traffic cap.
Or, just ask the provider for more bandwidth per month, generally now in 2023 it's pretty damn cheap.
All the best,
George
Hi all,
I've been running a middle relay on a VPS for about 2 months now. The provider limits the monthly data transferred to 5TB but does not charge for over-usage. Instead, the bandwidth is throttled to 1Mb/s after the limit is reached until the 1st of the next month.
I currently have AccountingMax set to 2.5 TB (since it's the max in each direction) and AccountingStart set to "month 1 00:00". Generally that 5TB limit is hit between the 15th and 17th of the month, causing the relay to go dormant until the 1st.
What I'm wondering is:
1 - Is it better for the network if the relay is active 24/7, even if sometimes it's much slower?
2 - Will it negatively affect my relay's reputation if sometimes it's very slow?
Thank you
--
Dan
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