Re: [tor-relays] Question regarding exit sizing

[tor <tor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> What scenario is better for the network - adding five 100mbps nodes, or one 500 mbps node?


Are we talking bare metal or VPS? A VPS will probably bottleneck on RAM or CPU before hitting 500 Mpbs.

Bare metal would stand a chance with the right hardware and tuning, but I wouldn't assume you'll hit 500 Mbps on any given node.

Due to the nature of the bandwidth measurements, physical location matters too. You're at the mercy of Tor's bandwidth authorities and in my experience, the further away from Europe, the worse your measurements will be, and so again you may not hit 500 Mbps.

Basically, you shouldn't assume that whatever bandwidth you plan for and advertise will come your way. 

I think you'd have better luck with 5x 100 Mbps nodes, or maybe 3x 200 Mbps nodes. You can also run 2 relays per IP.

There are advantages to spreading out the load (like redundancy). I also think Tor's bandwidth measurements and consensus weights are fickle, and some of the variables are out of your control (what else is going on in your rack, datacenter, upstream, etc.). You could use ansible-relayor to turn up a bunch of nodes, wait to see which ones are the most performant, and then keep the best ones. That's what I would do. :)


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