[Freedombox-discuss] remote servers

[John Gilmore]

> im looking for a way to install several dreamplugs in
> several locations and be able to connect to all of them without
> worring about firewalls
> 
> i guess a centraliced server to connect to will be needed

Look up "Distributed Hash Table":

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_hash_table

It's a lovely networked data structure designed in the last 15 years.

Each dreamplug will have to know the other ones' keys in the hash
table (you'll need to introduce them).  Then after that they can find
each others' current address via any other node in the DHT, not using
a centralized server.  DHTs like Kademlia are in active use by
millions of nodes worldwide.

However, most DHTs are relatively easy to disrupt; they got them to
work and perform well, and quit there.  There is a lot of paper
research about hard-to-disrupt ones, but I don't think that most of it
is practical nor has it been reduced to practice.  But I'm not up to
date on this.

	John