With respect to Tor source code, what is the different between 1- Circuits 2- Channels 3- Connections
And how do they relate to each other? Thanks.
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As was suggested on your similar question: Have a read of the Tor Specification, particularly sections 5 and 6 ("Circuit management" and "Application connections and stream management").– cacahuatlFeb 27 '17 at 2:49
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Also from said question "Streams are multiplexed inside of circuits, circuits consist of cells, cells for circuits are sent multiplexed across a TLS tunnel between nodes."– cacahuatlFeb 27 '17 at 2:50
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Hi, I already went through the specs many times. The words "circuit" and "channel" are used interchangeably there. However, from the code, they are not. I see that circuits have channels attached to them and they have different structures, also connections are a separate structure. Channels are attached to circuits somehow. Im intrested in understanding that relation and if it is 1-n or m-n, etc. My previous question was abiut streams, not channels. Thanks in advanced– Yasir Al-AglFeb 27 '17 at 6:56
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"I already went through the specs many times. The words "circuit" and "channel" are used interchangeably there." The word "channel" appears in the spec 0 times. In the code it's literally documented in the comments: gitweb.torproject.org/tor.git/tree/src/or/… what about this don't you understand?– cacahuatlFeb 27 '17 at 10:31
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@canonizingironize If channel is not documented in the specs, then there is no point of going over the spec to find an answer to my question. I want to know the difference between a channel and a circuit, and how do they relate to each other and work with each other to deliver cells– Yasir Al-AglFeb 27 '17 at 19:47
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Channels usually mean client-requested TCP pipes, the very good example of channel is SocksPort options like IsolateDestAddr and IsolateClientAddr. So - Channels are related to the client requests channeled through Tor
Circuits are the node-to-node chains for whatever purpose, i.e. reaching the Clearnet via Exit node or connecting to HiddenService. Circuits are transferring onions and usually noted as "Node A" -> "Node B" -> "Node C". It's an internode communication pipes for whatever reason.
Connection means a TCP connection as it is - regardless of the place it is made-of/accepted-at : it is a client-to-socks, client-to-TransPort, node-to-directory, node-to-node etc. It's just a connection
answered Feb 27 '17 at 18:35
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I literally pointed to what a "channel" is in the comments directly above this answer and you still got it wrong, Alexey. Feb 27 '17 at 19:21