[tor-talk] Number of tor users

[Maimun Rizal]

Hi Karsten,
Thank you for fast reply.
So, now more clear for me to understand.
I try to calculate average Bandwidth per User based on Data from 
metrics.torproject.org and I got around 30-40 Kbps/user. but it is total 
bandwidth/average daily user. if I want to calculate end-to-end 
bandwidth, the result i divide 3. with assumption we have 3 relays to 
establish connection (Entry, middle and exit). each relays have equal 
bandwidth (only assumption, in the reality, total bandwidth for 3 relays 
are different). then, average bandwidth connection is 10 - 15 Kbps.
in VoIP case, we need 30-35 Kbps (iLBC and Speex codec) to have good 
quality calls.
then my next question, does TOR ensure the bandwidth for users? at least 
each user can get minimum bandwidth around 30 Kbps.
Thank you before,

Regards,
Maimun


On 29/05/2013 11:53, Karsten Loesing wrote:
> On 5/29/13 10:11 AM, Maimun Rizal wrote:
>> I would like to know, where i can find data average number of tor
>> users? As I know, number of users in metrics.torproject.org are total
>> number in a day. So how can I know a average?
> Hi Maimun,
>
> this is a fine question.
>
> Actually, what you find on metrics.torproject.org *is* the estimated
> average number of Tor users per day, not the total number.
>
> Here's how we calculate those numbers (simplified): we sum up daily
> requests by Tor clients to the Tor directories to fetch the network
> status document, assume that an average user makes 10 such requests per
> day (some make just 1 or 2, others 15 or 20), divide the number of
> requests by 10, and have our estimated average daily user number.
>
> But we don't have data to say whether two requests were made by the same
> client or two different clients, mostly because clients can send their
> requests to hundreds of directories which cannot exchange data on
> requesting clients for obvious privacy reasons.  That's why we cannot
> calculate total users per day, just averages.
>
> For more details, see these reports:
>
> https://research.torproject.org/techreports/counting-daily-bridge-users-2012-10-24.pdf
>
> https://research.torproject.org/techreports/countingusers-2010-11-30.pdf
>
> I wonder, why did you think metrics.torproject.org shows total users per
> day, and how can we make it clearer that these are in fact daily averages?
>
> Thanks,
> Karsten