After running a tor middle relay successfully for some months at home it was time take the next step: I rented a virtual server on the internet and installed a tor exit node on it. What made me do it ?
Firstly, I use the tor browser myself quite often to “investigate” on the topics of my interest without leaving any traces. I value privacy and anonymity and wanted to support others to maintain their privancy and anonymity. I have received so much support in terms of software or services that I am very thankful for. Thats why I set up the exit node.
I have, though, implemented some security: Firstly it is not running on my own machine at home. It is running on a virtual debian server in the internet. The serverhoster provides more bandwith than my ISP at home and if it comes to any shutdowns or blockings of the IP-address of the server it won’t affect the connection at home where my family is accessing the internet. Secondly, not all ports are allowed to exit. For example filesharing over bittorrent and the common associated ports are blocked to prevent obvious violation of copyright laws. At the tor website is a guide on how to set up an exit node. It makes suggestions what ports to block.
So, lets see if i can accelerate the tor traffic by 0,014285% (roughly 35 GBit/s of advertised bandwith from guards with exit flag according to tor metrics compared to the 5 Mbit/s advertised bandwith of my own exit node)
The server is running on the IP 185.242.113.224 and is also visible here next to the middle relay i am running at home
