Best Hardware for TOR server..

[Scott Bennett]

     On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:31:43 +0100 Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org>
wrote:
>On Wed, Dec 12, 2007 at 10:44:17PM -0800, algenon flower wrote:
>
>>      Because of difficulty in the past when I was using minimum hardware
>>    specs,  I now will be setting up my TOR server on a dedicated machine
>>    with this physical architecture:
>>     P4 processor @ 3GHZ, Intel MB, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 80 GB SATA HD, all
>
>That's a bit of an overkill for a dedicated machine, unless you want
>to serve multiple MBytes/s. The system could easily double as a home
>fileserver, etc.
>
>>    behind a  Linksys Firewall Router.
>
>Make sure this is not your weak spot. OpenWRT is a good firmware here.
>In general, it is always a good idea to buy a WRAP or ALIX (or its
>Soekris equivalent) piece of kit, and flash it with a decent firewall,
>like m0n0wall or pfSense.

     I've had problems with every Linksys router I've dealt with so far,
but mainly with wireless service.  The built-in DHCP server, when presented
with a request from a machine to which it has already issued a lease, fails
to recognize that that machine is a current leaseholder and to issue it a
copy of the existing lease.  Instead, it denies the request.  This is a
worse problem for Windows than for FreeBSD in that Windows is far more
likely to decide it has lost contact with a Linksys wireless router than
FreeBSD is.
>
>>      My service provider will most likely be Comcast cable broadband.
>
>How much upstream do US cable modem providers offer? My provider
>so far has stepped up to 2/30 MBit. They do up to 100 MBit/s in France
>(upstream unknown).

     Comcast's speeds seem to depend upon overall traffic load in the
neighborhood, varying from ~300 KB/s at busy times to ~900 KB/s at off
times for reception, and varying from ~40 KB/s to ~90 KB/s for transmission.
     The providers in the U.S. are not at the forefront, obviously.  Unlike
France, Japan, etc., an intermediate-speed, asymmetric model is used for
residential service in the U.S.  If you have, say, $1200/month to blow, you
can get a T3 line and call yourself a business, but then you need a much
classier modem+router to deal with it.
>
>>    **Comcast always adds their own modem, I am wondering if the usual

     Not necessarily so.  We saved a small amount per month by providing
a modem and router ourselves.  Comcast's equipment was returned to them, and
they stopped billing for it.

>>    modems they provide will be adequate for use with a TOR server.**
>>      My main question here is whether or not Comcast's modem will work
>>    well with a TOR server, or, if I need to upgrade *that too*... If
>>    anyone knows if there is something wrong here, or something I
>>    seriously need to improve upon, please reply.

     I don't know of any problems of that sort, but if you're planning to
stay with Comcast a year or more, you'd be better off providing your own
equipment and saving the $4 - $8 per month per item yourself.  Ten to twelve
months of that pretty much pays for the equipment, and then you still own
the equipment at the end.

>>      The whole thing will be on RedHat Enterprise Linux.
>
>I personally find Debian apt-get upgrade type of system installs
>preferrable, especially for headless machines/from distance.


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
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