[tor-relays] geo-diversity vs. latency

[grarpamp]

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 6:27 AM, nusenu <nusenu at openmailbox.org> wrote:
>> A relay running in South America could do more bad than good, as it
>> would increase the average latency
>
> I was also thinking about that.
> "Does improving geo-diversity negatively affect latency?"

Internet imposed minimum latency to exit destinations in geophysical
worst case antipodal node distribution is roughly 1000ms, or 500ms
with average distribution. HS destinations are about double that.

Putting nodes in nontraditional locations could actually lower average latency
because they could enable a more direct fiber route / waypoint than BGP
arcing by default back through some longer path along the densely laid
areas.

Tests could be done with manual circuits and global fiber maps.

Todays node distribution is probably already subject to the random
path minimum averages above, so I doubt it would hurt. Plus you
get more geopolitical diversity.

Play pin the tail on the donkey and win a prize for being the first
in an unoccupied country / state.