Re: invitation to directory server operators

[Scott Bennett <bennett@xxxxxxxxxx>]

     On Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:31:34 +0200 Hans Schnehl <torvallenator@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
>On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 04:46:14AM -0500, Scott Bennett wrote:
>>      On: Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:01:34 +0200 Gitano <0xb8968b9e9190@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>> >Scott Bennett wrote:
>> >
>> >>> This entry doesn't work on my server (Picolo) even though the flag
>> >>> 'Directory (v2)' is set.
>> >> 
>> >>      Why do you believe it doesn't work?
>> >
>> >My server is not listed as a HSDir server.
>> >
>> >> There is, however, the requirement that your
>> >> server be up for at least 24 hours before the authorities will list a new
>> >> HSDir server with the HSDir flag set in the consensus and status documents.
>> >> If it hasn't been that long yet, please give it enough time.
>> >
>> >Ok - so a server, getting a new IP every 24 hours (ADSL), will never
>> >become a HSDir server?
>> >
>
>[...snip...]
>
>> they forced a disconnection of the PPPoE session *at least* every 24 hours,
>> usually assigning a different IP address.  That meant any login sessions I
>> had open to other locations got broken without notification to either end,
>> and all open tor connections got broken without warning or notification to
>> either end (i.e., all TCP connections to anywhere else)
>
>[...snip}...
>
>Just for clarification for Germans: Isps of various countries, even in Europe,  
>do _NOT_ force a 24 hour dis/reconnect with dialup adsl lines. 
>Even if the line is disconnected, they _may_ just give away the same IP that
>was used before to the same machine. They do not have to, but in practice they 
>often do. (see below)

     And some clarification for non-gringos:  in the U.S. the ADSL connections
are not dialup, but rather continuous connections usually provided directly
or indirectly by the telephone company monopolizing the local geographical
area.  Cable connections are also supposed to be continuous here.  The only
normal reason for outages is supposed to be hardware trouble.
     The catches are 1) that some ISPs, like the lousy one I used to pay (TBC
Net, Inc. -- tbc.net), buy large packages of ADSL service from another
provider, which may be the telephone company or it may be yet another service
repackager, and then they turn around and sell the service for individual
lines at a cheaper rate than the underlying physical service provider, and 2)
any level of this setup that requires authentication can use whatever method
it chooses.  My old ISP chose to use PPPoE session authentication logs as
some sort of input to its accounting system, and the accounting system needed
a record for every day or some such nonsense, so they forced new accounting
data to be logged at least every 24 hours by cancelling the PPPoE session and
requiring reauthentication upon reconnection.  Basically, it was one of those
setups designed by amateurs, maybe junior high school kids similar to the way
Microsoft appears to handle software design.
>
>>Also, it appears that
>>even when the signal is lost or erratic enough to cause the modem to reset
>>itself and then reconnect, it seems to get the same IP address every time, so
>                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
>>there may be a pause of 60 - 75 seconds or so, but then everything seems to
>>resume with few, if any, broken connections.
>
>>      If you can find an ISP that doesn't force a disconnection and reconnection
>> every day, life will be much less unpleasant.
>
>For Non-Germans:
>In Germany and some neighboring states  it's standard of isp's providing adsl dialups to 
>disconnect _every_ line after 24 hours and reconnect with giving away a new IP.
>AFAIK there is no exeption to the rule with dialup lines.

     Sounds awful.  Is there a cable-based ISP there?  You might have better
results that way.  Sorry to hear, as well, that the ADSL lines are dial-up
connections.  Bummer.
>
>So the idea of running a HSDir server is probably limited to those with more permanent
>IPs, unless the 24 hour waiting period for HSDir servers to become active is changed to
>something shorter.

     Oh, well.  However, I do notice that German HSDir servers outnumber
those of all other countries at present, so *somebody* there is getting
better service.
>
>0.5c
>
     That must be before adjusting for inflation, right? ;-)  In this
country, the U.S.  Mint has not produced 0.5c coins since the mid-19th
century or perhaps earlier.  Now 1.0c coins are not worth picking up off
the ground, though if you good get 5 or 10 kg of them, you could sell
them for the copper, because the face value has dropped significantly
below the metal value.  Reading about precious metals coinage is like
reading something from Anderson's fairy tales nowadays.


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
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