The subset of Tor relays that also provide access from within Tor to the Internet is called “Exit Nodes”, and, of course, it’s smaller than the total amount. However, the way Tor works, not every node in the network relays traffic to and from the Internet. Again, Tor Project Metrics has the appropriate graph: With those relays being mostly servers with very fast Internet connections, the total bandwidth available for Tor is currently 180 Gb/s, a very large number with today’s standards, especially for a volunteer, not-for-profit network. The following graph is from the Tor Project Metrics Page which illustrates that:

These are computers running the Tor software that accept incoming connections and forward them to the next hop, or to the Internet.Ĭurrently there are approximately 7,000 relays in the network, a number that so far has kept increasing.

In order to be able to use Tor, volunteers need to operate the so-called “Tor Relays”. This creates an message with several encryption layers, which needs to be peeled by each node like an onion. Afterwards, they encrypt the data with the last node’s public key, then they encrypt the output with the middle node’s public key, and finally they encrypt that output with the first node’s public key. Every time a user wants to access a website using Tor, they create a circuit between three or more nodes in the network. Tor got its name from the encryption that happens during the relaying of the information. The Tor Project is a non-profit organization in the United States that created Tor, The Onion Router, a free software that creates an open network of volunteers which helps people anonymize their traffic by routing it through three or more other computers before it reaches its final destination. Running a Tor Exit Node for fun and e-mails September 2, 2016

Tor exit router