NEW VERSION RELEASED
-We are pleased to announce the release of version 0.4 of Allmydata-Tahoe, a
-secure, decentralized storage grid under a free-software licence. This is
-the follow-up to v0.3 which was released June 6, 2007 (see [1]).
+We are pleased to announce the release of version 0.4 of
+Allmydata-Tahoe, a secure, decentralized storage grid under a
+free-software licence. This is the follow-up to v0.3 which was
+released June 6, 2007 (see [1]).
Since then we've made several improvements, including:
- * Add encrypted, mutable directories, so that you can organize your files
- into directories, change the contents of directories, and share your
- directories with your friends, without thereby sharing your directories
- with anyone else -- not even with the owners of the servers that host
- your directories.
+ * Add encrypted, mutable directories, so that you can organize your
+ files into directories, change the contents of directories, and
+ share your directories with your friends, without thereby sharing
+ your directories with anyone else -- not even with the owners of
+ the servers that host your directories.
- * make it so that web browsers can connect to the Tahoe node securely with
- https (ticket #55)
+ * make it so that web browsers can connect to the Tahoe node securely
+ with https (ticket #55)
-For complete details, see this web page which shows all ticket changes,
-repository checkins, and wiki changes from June 11 to today, June 29: [2].
+For complete details, see this web page which shows all ticket
+changes, repository checkins, and wiki changes from June 11 to today,
+June 29: [2].
-Allmydata-Tahoe v0.4 is incompatible with v0.3 due to the new encrypted
-directory structure, among other things. (Note that this applies only to
-directories -- individual files uploaded with v0.3 are probably downloadable
-with v0.4.)
+Allmydata-Tahoe v0.4 is incompatible with v0.3 due to the new
+encrypted directory structure, among other things. (Note that this
+applies only to directories -- individual files uploaded with v0.3 are
+probably downloadable with v0.4.)
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
-The source code that we are releasing is the current working prototype for
-Allmydata's next-generation product. This release is targeted at hackers
-and users who are willing to use a minimal, text-oriented web user
-interface.
+The source code that we are releasing is the current working prototype
+for Allmydata's next-generation product. This release is targeted at
+hackers and users who are willing to use a minimal, text-oriented web
+user interface.
-This software is not yet recommended for storage of highly confidential data
-nor for important data which is not otherwise backed up, but it is useful
-for experimentation, prototyping, and extension.
+This software is not yet recommended for storage of highly
+confidential data nor for important data which is not otherwise backed
+up, but it is useful for experimentation, prototyping, and extension.
-This release of Allmydata-Tahoe is suitable for Use Case #2: "groups of
-friends who want to share backup and file-sharing" (see the wiki page
-"UseCases": [3]). It is easy to set up a private grid which is securely
-shared among a specific, limited set of friends. Files uploaded to this
-shared grid will be available to all friends, even when some of the
-computers are unavailable. It is also easy to use a public grid, but to
-encrypt individual files and directories so that only intended recipients
-can read them.
+This release of Allmydata-Tahoe is suitable for Use Case #2: "groups
+of friends who want to share backup and file-sharing" (see the wiki
+page "UseCases": [3]). It is easy to set up a private grid which is
+securely shared among a specific, limited set of friends. Files
+uploaded to this shared grid will be available to all friends, even
+when some of the computers are unavailable. It is also easy to use a
+public grid, but to encrypt individual files and directories so that
+only intended recipients can read them.
LICENCE
-Tahoe is offered under the GNU General Public License (v2 or later), with
-the added permission that, if you become obligated to release a derived work
-under this licence (as per section 2.b), you may delay the fulfillment of
-this obligation for up to 12 months.
+Tahoe is offered under the GNU General Public License (v2 or later),
+with the added permission that, if you become obligated to release a
+derived work under this licence (as per section 2.b), you may delay
+the fulfillment of this obligation for up to 12 months.
INSTALLATION
-This release of Tahoe works on Linux/x86, Linux/amd64, Mac/Intel, Mac/PPC,
-Windows-native, and Cygwin.
+This release of Tahoe works on Linux/x86, Linux/amd64, Mac/Intel,
+Mac/PPC, Windows-native, and Cygwin.
To install, download the tarball [4], untar it, go into the resulting
directory, and follow the directions in the README [5].
USAGE
Once installed, create a "client node". Instruct this client node to
-connect to a specific "introducer node" by means of config files in the
-client node's working directory. To join a public grid, copy in the .furl
-files for that grid. To create a private grid, run your own introducer, and
-copy its .furl files. See the README for step-by-step instructions.
-
-Each client node runs a local webserver (enabled by writing the desired port
-number into a file called 'webport'). The front page of this webserver
-shows the node's status, including which introducer is being used and which
-other nodes are connected. Links from the status page lead to others that
-give access to a shared virtual filesystem, in which each directory is
-represented by a separate page. Each client node also has a separate
-(non-shared) virtual filesystem. Each directory page shows a list of the
-files available there, with download links, and forms to upload new files.
-
-Other ways to access the filesystem are planned: please see the roadmap.txt
-[6] for some rough details.
+connect to a specific "introducer node" by means of config files in
+the client node's working directory. To join a public grid, copy in
+the .furl files for that grid. To create a private grid, run your own
+introducer, and copy its .furl files. See the README for step-by-step
+instructions.
+
+Each client node runs a local webserver (enabled by writing the
+desired port number into a file called 'webport'). The front page of
+this webserver shows the node's status, including which introducer is
+being used and which other nodes are connected. Links from the status
+page lead to others that give access to a shared virtual filesystem,
+in which each directory is represented by a separate page. Each
+client node also has a separate (non-shared) virtual filesystem. Each
+directory page shows a list of the files available there, with
+download links, and forms to upload new files.
+
+Other ways to access the filesystem are planned: please see the
+roadmap.txt [6] for some rough details.
HACKING AND COMMUNITY
Please join the mailing list [7] to discuss the ideas behind Tahoe and
-extensions of and uses of Tahoe. Patches that extend and improve Tahoe are
-gratefully accepted -- roadmap.txt shows the next improvements that we plan
-to make and CREDITS lists the names of people who've contributed to the
-project. You can browse the revision control history, source code, and
-issue tracking at the Trac instance [8]. Please see the buildbot [9], which
-shows how Tahoe builds and passes unit tests on each checkin, and the code
-coverage results [10] and percentage-covered graph [11], which show how much
-of the Tahoe source code is currently exercised by the test suite.
+extensions of and uses of Tahoe. Patches that extend and improve
+Tahoe are gratefully accepted -- roadmap.txt shows the next
+improvements that we plan to make and CREDITS lists the names of
+people who've contributed to the project. You can browse the revision
+control history, source code, and issue tracking at the Trac instance
+[8]. Please see the buildbot [9], which shows how Tahoe builds and
+passes unit tests on each checkin, and the code coverage results [10]
+and percentage-covered graph [11], which show how much of the Tahoe
+source code is currently exercised by the test suite.
NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
-Each peer maintains a connection to each other peer. A single distinct
-server called an "introducer" is used to discover other peers with which to
-connect.
+Each peer maintains a connection to each other peer. A single
+distinct server called an "introducer" is used to discover other peers
+with which to connect.
-To store a file, the file is encrypted and erasure coded, and each resulting
-share is uploaded to a different peer. The secure hash of the encrypted
-file and the encryption key are packed into a URI, knowledge of which is
-necessary and sufficient to recover the file.
+To store a file, the file is encrypted and erasure coded, and each
+resulting share is uploaded to a different peer. The secure hash of
+the encrypted file and the encryption key are packed into a URI,
+knowledge of which is necessary and sufficient to recover the file.
-To fetch a file, starting with the URI, a subset of shares is downloaded
-from peers, the file is reconstructed from the shares, and then decrypted.
+To fetch a file, starting with the URI, a subset of shares is
+downloaded from peers, the file is reconstructed from the shares, and
+then decrypted.
-A single distinct server called a "vdrive server" maintains a global mapping
-from pathnames/filenames to URIs.
+A single distinct server called a "vdrive server" maintains a global
+mapping from pathnames/filenames to URIs.
-We are acutely aware of the limitations of decentralization and scalability
-inherent in this version. In particular, the completely-connected property
-of the grid and the requirement of a single distinct introducer and vdrive
-server limits the possible size of the grid. We have plans to loosen these
-limitations (see roadmap.txt). Currently it should be noted that the grid
-already depends as little as possible on the accessibility and correctness
-of the introduction server and the vdrive server. Also note that the choice
-of which servers to use is easily configured -- you should be able to set up
-a private grid for you and your friends almost as easily as to connect to
-our public test grid.
+We are acutely aware of the limitations of decentralization and
+scalability inherent in this version. In particular, the
+completely-connected property of the grid and the requirement of a
+single distinct introducer and vdrive server limits the possible size
+of the grid. We have plans to loosen these limitations (see
+roadmap.txt). Currently it should be noted that the grid already
+depends as little as possible on the accessibility and correctness of
+the introduction server and the vdrive server. Also note that the
+choice of which servers to use is easily configured -- you should be
+able to set up a private grid for you and your friends almost as
+easily as to connect to our public test grid.
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
-Tahoe is a "from the ground-up" rewrite, inspired by Allmydata's existing
-consumer backup service. It is primarily written in the Python programming
-language.
-
-Tahoe is based on the Foolscap library [12] which provides a remote object
-protocol inspired by the capability-secure "E" programming language [13].
-Foolscap allows us to express the intended behavior of the distributed grid
-directly in object-oriented terms while relying on a well-engineered, secure
-transport layer.
-
-The network layer is provided by the Twisted library [14]. Computationally
-intensive operations are performed in native compiled code, such as the
-"zfec" library for fast erasure coding (also available separately: [15]).
-
-Tahoe is sponsored by Allmydata, Inc. [16], a provider of consumer backup
-services. Allmydata, Inc. contributes hardware, software, ideas, bug
-reports, suggestions, demands, and money (employing several Allmydata-Tahoe
-hackers and allowing them to spend part of their work time on the
-next-generation, free-software project). We are eternally grateful!
+Tahoe is a "from the ground-up" rewrite, inspired by Allmydata's
+existing consumer backup service. It is primarily written in the
+Python programming language.
+
+Tahoe is based on the Foolscap library [12] which provides a remote
+object protocol inspired by the capability-secure "E" programming
+language [13]. Foolscap allows us to express the intended behavior of
+the distributed grid directly in object-oriented terms while relying
+on a well-engineered, secure transport layer.
+
+The network layer is provided by the Twisted library [14].
+Computationally intensive operations are performed in native compiled
+code, such as the "zfec" library for fast erasure coding (also
+available separately: [15]).
+
+Tahoe is sponsored by Allmydata, Inc. [16], a provider of consumer
+backup services. Allmydata, Inc. contributes hardware, software,
+ideas, bug reports, suggestions, demands, and money (employing several
+Allmydata-Tahoe hackers and allowing them to spend part of their work
+time on the next-generation, free-software project). We are eternally
+grateful!
Zooko O'Whielacronx and Brian Warner
projects / tahoe-lafs / tahoe-lafs.git / commitdiff