[tor-bugs] #14056 [Tor]: IPredator complains that we call time() too much when running over 500Mbps

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#14056: IPredator complains that we call time() too much when running over 500Mbps
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     Reporter:  teor    |      Owner:
         Type:  defect  |     Status:  new
     Priority:  normal  |  Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.6.x-final
    Component:  Tor     |    Version:  Tor: 0.2.5.10
   Resolution:          |   Keywords:  performance tor-relay lorax
Actual Points:          |  Parent ID:
       Points:          |
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Comment (by teor):

 I'd like to get a sense of how many calls per second 400,000 represents.
 (400,000 would seem to be 100 to 1000 per second, unless you were
 debugging for a long while.) IPredator doesn't provide any numbers,
 either.

 I'd also like to know which function(s)/call stack(s) these calls are
 being made from.
 (This is essential for us to fix the issue.)

 I also wonder if TIME_IS_FAST is being defined as 1 in any of these Linux
 or BSD builds.
 If TIME_IS_FAST is not defined (the default), we could change these calls
 to approx_time(), which is much faster.
 And in that case there should only be around 1 call to time() each second,
 which is clearly not the behaviour that either mmcc or IPredator are
 seeing.

 We can check if approx_time is available by searching the tor binary or
 tor debug symbols for the string "approx_time".
 grep will do this, or strings, or even gdb if you feel like doing it the
 hard way.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/14056#comment:5>
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