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AREDN Official Tunnel Server Testing Announcement

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K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
AREDN Official Tunnel Server Testing Announcement

Hi all,

In response to all the requests for tunnel connections, the AREDN team has created an cloud-based tunnel server to create a large/global mesh network.  We have been testing this server with a limited number of clients over the last few weeks with good success.
It is now time to take the testing to the next level.
(I'm only posting here in the forums for now to limit the number of requests initially.)

We are looking for additional testers who would like to connect.
There are a few requirements/notes that you should be aware of.

By connecting to this service, you agree to these basic Terms of Service:

  • Tunnel clients must be running the latest released version of AREDN (or a higher nighly build)
  • No non-AREDN nodes should be directly connected to the tunnel server (RPi's, PI-HSMM, BBHN, etc., although they can be "behind" the client)  (ie. no custom builds, no HSMM-Pi, no BBHN clients)
  • While we will do our best to keep the tunnel service up and running, there is no service-level agreement (SLA).
  • In the event of an actual emergency, AREDN Inc. reserves the right to limit connections to the tunnel server in order to prioritize EMCOMM traffic in affected areas.


This effort, and all of the AREDN Inc. project, is largely funded by a few people. 
Bandwidth and resources are not free, so, please consider supporting AREDN Inc. with a recurring monthly donation of $5, $10, or $20.

If you would like to help test this service, please email me at k5dlq@arednmesh.org with the following information:

  • Your AREDN Node name that you want to use to connect to the server
  • The primary reason why you want to connect to the tunnel server
  • Your device type (ie.  Ubiquiti Rocket M5, Mikrotik hAP AC Lite, etc.)
  • The version of AREDN that you have loaded on the above device
  • How many nodes are currently showing in your mesh status page

While we cannot promise EVERYONE a connection at this time, we will do our best to accommodate each request.  I will do my best to respond within 24 hours.

If accepted into this phase of testing, we will email you back with your network IP address, your password, and the server address where you will connect.

Thank you,

Darryl - K5DLQ

N3WTT
Super excited!
This is amazing news! I know this is early but I was curious on a few things?: *1) Will the cloud nodes elevate the 10 connections to a node that standard nodes are restricted to? *2) will this be made public for those of us that have server access ourselves? By creating a constellation of cloud nodes we can minimize a single point of failure. Of course the cost would be absorbed by the individual point in the constellation and would have to be strictly coordinated by the AREDN team. Again I realize these questions may be months or more out I am just excited by the possibilities of this! I can see this as a huge evolution of the project.
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
There is no hard limit on the
There is no hard limit on the number of connections the cloud server.  It is running in a custom built Linux-based Docker container.
we have not yet discussed distributing it yet.    Want to get more miles on it before we start discussing that.
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
Thanks to all who have
Thanks to all who have responded.   We have enough testers at this time.  Stay tuned for expanded testing.

K5DLQ - Darryl
iz5fsa
iz5fsa's picture
Good Stability
Hi Darryl,
here at my side all seems to work fine. I think this feature can help managing the growth oh arednmesh network.
Maybe this feature usable in future to manage local (e.g. italians) networks?

73 de Leo IZ5FSA
 
w8erw
w8erw's picture
Porting
Anything that can be done to offload Tunnels to a server will be a great addition to AREDN.  Porting to the PC environment locally or perhaps eve a Raspberry Pi could be very useful and likely add some functionality not currently available.
 
Thanks gentlemen for the effort.
 
Jim
W8ERW
VA2XJM
Great job! I think it might
Great job! I think it might be useful for us as we are opening partnership to use commercial wireless ip network to create redundancy of our network for certain sites that are out of amateur radio reach.

So a tunnel server behind those existing networks to links multiple nodes that will be connected to the mesh at exit points to establish new routes and eliminate the risks associated with a single center site will be more than welcome. I can guess that many will also look to this kind of deployment as it greatly cut the cost for sites and hardware!

Good job guys!
iz5fsa
iz5fsa's picture
Neighbor-node problems on cloud tunnel client

I've got a problem agai on Mikrotik hAC ap lite IZ5FSA-HOME the OLSR system seems to be in troubles.
I can se as neighbor-node a USA node
and this is not true.
To avoid the problem a scheduled daily reboot in crontab seems not to be a solution. In fact, only checking aredn.olsr.restart in advanced configuration and then reboot node can solve the problem.
The latest nightly build can solve the issue? Or... Is there a command to reset OLSR from crontab?

AB7PA
Scheduled olsr restart

The Advanced Configuration option to restart OLSR simply runs

   /etc/init.d/olsrd  restart

You should be able to put that command into your crontab to restart OLSR on a scheduled basis.

iz5fsa
iz5fsa's picture
Are U sure?
If this restart OLSR daemon don't solve the problem. Reboot makes the job. I need to clean olsrd "memory" and reboot seems not doing that job.
--
73 de Leo IZ5FSA
kk6ffz
servers?
How much bandwidth will your server use?
ke6qzu
Any updates on the cloud-based tunnel server?

Hi All
Are there any updates on the current cloud-based tunnel testing? How many clients are currently directly connected. What are the Bandwidth requirements, etc? Do you have room for more testers? What applications have been tested through the cloud-based tunnel server? Does iperf work through the cloud-based tunnel server?

N3WTT
I would be interested as well.
I know these things take time to implement and monitor. I just wanted to show support and interest for joining this node/server when there there is another announcement.
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
@n3wtt send me an email:   
@n3wtt send me an email:    k5dlq@arednmesh.org
N3WTT
Email sent.
Email sent.
N3WTT
What kind of activity should we be seeing on this node?
Just curious how many nodes are normal for this tunnel? I know this will be a very dynamic number and would be hard to estimate, however I am seeing a wide fluctuation on my end. At times I see 70(ish) Nodes visible with 250+ Total OSLR entries, other times this number is 5 times this amount or more.
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
clients can come and go as
clients can come and go as they wish, so, there's not a "stable" number.
Kb4yfk
Clients on 3.20.3.1
After my install of the 3.1 release, my wan display shows a node count of only 74 now (in Virginia), down from around 600. Now as I have a tunnel client up and running from the hotel (in Seattle this week) my node count is 588. This Seattle node is tunneling through Virginia. The numbers are skewed. Anything to be concerned with? My screenshots are over size allowed...grumble. Thanks. John KB4YFK
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
clients can come and go as

clients can come and go as they wish, so, there's not a "stable" number.   There are currently 29 clients defined on the server.

N3WTT
Good to know
Thank you. I know it's a the server is in testing was just looking if a bug needed reporting is all.quite impressive what this dev team is capable of.
N0MO
N0MO's picture
How many concurrent clients
How many concurrent clients do you think the server will support?
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
we have an arbitrary limit at
we have an arbitrary limit at the moment of 40, but, haven't seen anything so far that would indicate that we could not increase significantly.
 
KJ6dgg
Aredn Tunnel Server
Wow! Thank awesome I would like to partcipate.

 
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
FYI for all AREDN Global

FYI for all AREDN Global Tunnel Server DIRECTLY connected clients... please update your client node to 3.20.3.1 ASAP to remain on the tunnel server.
There was a change in 3.20.3.1 to the OLSR config that is important for tunnels.

Your node may be disabled if it is not running 3.20.3.1 (or higher nightly build).

Thanks for your cooperation.

K9AJE
Testing Tunnel Server

Hello, can someone help me out?
I want to connect to an AREDN Tunnel server for testing.

Best regards,
A
K9AJE
PS: Please email me ar escalantea @ gmail dot com

N2MH
N2MH's picture
User Node Capability

Hi Darryl,

You have mentioned the capacity of the AREDN Tunnel Server above. What estimate do you have of what a user node must be able to support, in terms of OLSR entries which drives the routing table size?

Currently, I'm seeing ~ 2200 OSLR entries coming in from that tunnel server. If I'm not mistaken, this also corresponds to a routing table size of ~2200 entries.

Is there anything a user can do to decrease this number and still have connectivity?

73, Mark, N2MH
 

AJ6GZ
Why?
The reason the routing table is so big is that some user(s) are connected to the Southern California network as well as the AREDN Tunnel Server. This is causing instabilities in our network and needs to be disconnected. There is no reason for these two segements to be connected. If a user wishes to be on both segments, that's fine, but they should not cross connect them--one computer on one, one computer on another, do not DtD the nodes. If another user cross-connects into another metro area you can see how quickly this will fall apart. We have been dealing with routing loops and mesh "storms" all week in So Cal which renders the entire network useless (including those on the global Tunnel segement).
2E0CRV
2E0CRV's picture
Tunnel server for currently isolated nodes
This sounds like a wonderful adjunct to connectivity. I am currently enjoying the steep learning curve that comes with setting up one's first node! Currently I am breaking new ground in the city of York in northern England, and my solitary and completely isolated node is beginning to take shape. I will soon be trying to get others involved so we can develop a functional mesh to cover the city. An easily set up internet access function (which I am currently struggling to get to grips with) will make the whole idea more appealing to others. Good luck in developing things and when you need more testers hopefully I'll be able to get involved.
kp4msr
Hello, its available the
Hello, its available the binary or source to accomplish this ? 

i want to host a tunnel on the cloud to connect everybody on my country together. I already have the server on the cloud, just need the app. 
K6AH
K6AH's picture
Why?

Manuel, that sounds like a bad idea to me.  You will end up with an internet-based network, not a ham radio network.  When disaster strikes, it will all come crumbling down.  If you are building a network to help your country survive another disaster, then tunnels are fine if they are used temporarily until the RF links have been built. 

Andre, K6AH
 

KD2HKB
Regional hubs?
Hi there, just wondering or proposing that one viable use for such a server would be regional hubs. I'm on an area nothing like So. Cal. Here Hams are miles apart but trees are bountiful. While we ARE working to build RF paths, we want to tunnel until paths are made so people can get used to the mesh. Not sure if it's a hard-coded limit or just what, but... The device I am using for your central tunnel doesn't seem to want to accept more tunnel clients (I think). Anyway, I'd honestly prefer to swap the Ubiquiti device I'm using for something more like a NUC or other more powerful server to handle the tunnel connections. As an alternative, I'm looking at the possibility of having a few Mikrotik HAP AC lites in a rack... Each acting as a tunnel server and/or services host (have a tunnel server on one or two, have services like a PBX and such on a third). This all hosted at one location with good connectivity and will likely be the center of things anyway. That all said... Is there any news about a release usable on a full fledged server or "in the cloud"?

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