[tor-bugs] #6781 [Tor Relay]: Make cell statistics useful in simulations again

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#6781: Make cell statistics useful in simulations again
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 Reporter:  robgjansen   |          Owner:                    
     Type:  enhancement  |         Status:  new               
 Priority:  normal       |      Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.4.x-final
Component:  Tor Relay    |        Version:  Tor: 0.2.3.20-rc  
 Keywords:               |         Parent:                    
   Points:               |   Actualpoints:                    
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 Once upon a time, when I set "CellStatistics 1" in my torrc files, each
 relay in my TestingTorNetwork would track and write statistics to disk.
 Since writing these every 24 hours was too long for my simulations, I just
 needed to patch WRITE_STATS_INTERVAL to a smaller value (once per minute).
 Every new interval, a new entry would be appended to the stats files.
 These statistics are very useful in determining how our test network looks
 and how it compares to live Tor.

 Somewhere along the line (in 0.2.3.x-alpha I think, but I can't find the
 ticket), the behavior changed so that each new entry replaces the existing
 file, presumably under the assumption that by that time the stats from the
 last entry were already sent to the authority and were no longer needed.
 Of course they weren't in my simulations, and only getting the last minute
 of statistics from each relay isn't nearly as useful.

 Whats the best solution here? Is there another #define that I should patch
 so my relays upload stats every minute instead of the current rate? That
 will cause extra network load. Should we allow the option of appending
 statistics instead of replacing?

 Ideally, I wouldn't have to patch anything and this would all be handled
 automatically if TestingTorNetwork is 1.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/6781>
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