— 3 min read

There is a variety of information out there about being a Tor exit node operator. Articles like this one make the thought of running a Tor exit as scary prospect, it’s understandable, some countries have laws that make running an exit scary too.

I run a variety of relays in various countries in this crazy World and thought I’d share my experiences.

Choosing a hosting partner

I personally choose to use a third party hosting provider for my relays, rather than using colocation. I just find this is easier and I don’t have to think about the hardware much at all.

Finding a provider can be a pain, there is a decent list on the Tor wiki. I use some of the providers on this list but I’ve also found it can be a really good idea to just contact a provider and talk to them …

 — < 1 min read

Mirror

With the DDoS attacks on the torproject.org website over the mid to end of December, I decided it would be prudent to join the relatively small list of mirrors.

Access

+——- —-+—————————+ | Website | Dist / Downloads | +=========+==================+ | HTTP | HTTP DIST | +————-+—————————+ | HTTPS | HTTPS DIST | +————-+—————————+ | FTP | FTP DIST | +————-+—————————+ | RSYNC | RSYNC DIST | +————-+—————————+

Note: This mirror is now dead and links have been removed.

 — < 1 min read

Exiting relays

Both SpunkWeasel (865A408E2B1EA3E18C9A12E80A8D458F9C985C16) and AnorexicSquirrel (B8E6FFEB6F91FA3D26BC572836FB0ABBD142DC87) have been given additional horsepower in terms of CPU and memory and both have been allowed to exit. Additionally, both are now capable of IPv6 connectivity as guards, relays and exits.

New relays

A new exit relay has been put online called VivaciousAlpaca (24B1783665A9B0A4BF640A1CD02F685C0CA098ED). It has the same CPU and memory as SpunkWeasel and AnorexicSquirrel and also has full IPv6 capabilities.

A full list of my public Tor relays can be found on the tor page.

 — 3 min read

Privacy is key

I am a big fan of keeping my browsing habits and other personal information private. As such, I use a VPN service provided by proxy.sh (affiliate link), I also use their proxies, Tor and various other proxies, usually from online lists, should I feel the need.

Anonymous nodes

I’ve run some Tor nodes for quite a while now, two Exits and five relays to be precise. They are all listed as being part of the same family and have never had any reference to me being their operator.

Sadly, these seven nodes will always remain a secret due to the hassle that inherently comes with running Tor Exit nodes. These issues include some mean emails and IP addresses and CIDR blocks being blacklisted by services like Netflix.

New nodes!

The good news is, I have recently launched three more nodes! These nodes belong to a …