Hiya, so been on the lookout for different services that I could help host for others to benefit from. I think TOR is a great project, and I’d like to contribute. So been thinking about hosting a TOR relay lately, and wondering how people’s experience is with running one? Please correct me if I’m wrong - but as far as I know, it only becomes “scary” to host, if you were to host an exit node? And the only real requirement to host a relay is to have a good internet speed? Mainly wondering people’s experiences with running a relay.
Edit: Very well-timed and relevant upload from Techlore, on how to use Tor just dropped: https://youtu.be/K3wmLvny5tg
Snowflake acts as an entry point. A lot of official TOR entry nodes are blacklisted in some contries. Since Snowflake can run basically behind any IP anywhere where a browser is, it is hard to block them. In that way users in suppressed countries can still access the TOR network through Snowflake but the official entry nodes.
Ah I see, good to know. I don’t think my country blocks them, but I’ll try to do some research. It seems like TOR has a nice overview over good and bad ISPs too, if one were to go the route of hosting through a company: https://community.torproject.org/relay/community-resources/good-bad-isps/
This is what I did on a Raspberry since snowflake can run as a normal service without a browser, too.
The Raspberry then runs 24/7 and I don’t have to care if my browser is running.
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All you need is a web browser running Snowflake to help people connect to Tor!
https://snowflake.torproject.org/
https://relay.love/
Didnt take long before someone connected, feels good to help!
Wow this is neat! Wasn’t aware of this. Is this the same as running a full dedicated relay?
Have already installed and activated it, and will do so on more of my devices.
Snowflake acts as an entry point. A lot of official TOR entry nodes are blacklisted in some contries. Since Snowflake can run basically behind any IP anywhere where a browser is, it is hard to block them. In that way users in suppressed countries can still access the TOR network through Snowflake but the official entry nodes.
Ah I see, good to know. I don’t think my country blocks them, but I’ll try to do some research. It seems like TOR has a nice overview over good and bad ISPs too, if one were to go the route of hosting through a company: https://community.torproject.org/relay/community-resources/good-bad-isps/
Neat.
This is what I did on a Raspberry since snowflake can run as a normal service without a browser, too. The Raspberry then runs 24/7 and I don’t have to care if my browser is running.
Good to know! Thanks