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228 lines
9.3 KiB
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228 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
NEW VERSION RELEASED -- Allmydata-Tahoe version 0.5.1
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We are pleased to announce the release of version 0.5.1 of
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allmydata.org "Tahoe", a secure, decentralized storage grid under a
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free-software licence. This is a security patch to v0.5.0, which was
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the follow-up to v0.4, which was released June 29, 2007 (see [1]).
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Since v0.5.0 we've made the following changes:
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* fixed security flaw in which XSS/XSRF attacks could disclose
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private files or delete files (ticket #98)
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* updated the webapi and the webapi.txt document for clarity and
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easier access to read/write permission metadata (ticket #118)
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* removed the --vdrive option from the command-line tools, since the
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security fix makes the private vdrive unavailable to the
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command-line tools; We will make it available again in a secure way
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in a future release -- see ticket #120.
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Since v0.4 we've made several improvements, including:
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* a RESTful API for programming your Tahoe node in the language of
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your choice [2]
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* a command-line interface in the Unix style for uploading and
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downloading files (ticket #53)
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* ported to Solaris
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* reduced the memory used when uploading large files (ticket #29)
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* reduced the bandwidth and disk space used when uploading many small
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files (tickets #80, 81, #85)
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* added configurable erasure-coding parameters: how many total shares
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to produce, and how many shares are required to reconstruct the
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file (ticket #84)
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* added configurable limits on how much disk space your node will
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allocate for storing data on behalf of other peers (ticket #34)
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* many bugs fixed and enhancements implemented
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For complete details, see this web page which shows all ticket
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changes, repository checkins, and wiki changes from June 29 to today,
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August 23: [3].
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Allmydata.org Tahoe v0.5.1 is compatible with Allmydata.org Tahoe
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v0.5.0. It is incompatible with v0.4 due to a change in the
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formatting of URIs to make them more human-friendly.
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WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
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With Tahoe, you can store your files in a distributed way across a set
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of computers, such that if some of the computers fail or become
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unavailable, you can still retrieve your data from the remaining
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computers. You can also securely share your files with other users.
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This release is targeted at hackers and users who are willing to use a
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text-oriented web user interface, or a command-line user interface.
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(Or a RESTful API. Just telnet to localhost and type HTTP requests to
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get started.)
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Because this software is new, it is not yet recommended for storage of
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highly confidential data nor for important data which is not otherwise
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backed up. Given that caveat, this software works and there are no
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known security flaws which would compromise confidentiality or data
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integrity.
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This release of Tahoe is suitable for the "friendnet" use case [4].
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It is easy to set up a private grid which is securely shared among a
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specific, limited set of friends. Files uploaded to this shared grid
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will be available to all friends, even when some of the computers are
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unavailable. It is also easy to encrypt individual files and
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directories so that only designated recipients can read them.
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LICENCE
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Tahoe is offered under the GNU General Public License (v2 or later),
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with the added permission that, if you become obligated to release a
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derived work under this licence (as per section 2.b), you may delay
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the fulfillment of this obligation for up to 12 months. If you are
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obligated to release code under section 2.b of this licence, you are
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obligated to release it under these same terms, including the 12-month
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grace period clause.
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INSTALLATION
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This release of Tahoe works on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Cygwin, and
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Solaris.
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To install, download the tarball [5], untar it, go into the resulting
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directory, and follow the directions in the README [6].
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USAGE - web interface
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Once installed, create a "client node". Instruct this client node to
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connect to a specific "introducer node" by means of config files in
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the client node's working directory. To join a grid, copy in the
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.furl files for that grid. To create a private grid, run your own
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introducer, and copy its .furl files. See the README for step-by-step
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instructions.
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Each client node runs a local webserver (enabled by writing the
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desired port number into a file called 'webport'). The welcome page
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of this webserver shows the node's status, including which introducer
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is being used and which other nodes are connected. Links from the
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Links from the welcome page lead to other pages that give access to a
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virtual filesystem, in which each directory is represented by a
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separate page. Each directory page shows a list of the files
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available there, with download links, and forms to upload new files.
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USAGE - command-line interface
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Run "allmydata-tahoe ls [VIRTUAL PATH NAME]" to list the contents of a
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virtual directory. Run "allmydata-tahoe get [VIRTUAL FILE NAME] [LOCAL FILE
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NAME]" to download a file. Run "allmydata-tahoe put [LOCAL FILE NAME]
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[VIRTUAL FILE NAME]" to upload a file. Run "allmydata-tahoe rm [VIRTUAL PATH
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NAME]" to unlink a file or directory in the virtual drive.
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USAGE - other
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You can control the filesystem through the RESTful web API [2]. Other
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ways to access the filesystem are planned: please see the roadmap.txt
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[7] for some plans.
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HACKING AND COMMUNITY
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Please join the mailing list [8] to discuss the ideas behind Tahoe and
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extensions of and uses of Tahoe. Patches that extend and improve
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Tahoe are gratefully accepted -- roadmap.txt shows the next
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improvements that we plan to make and CREDITS lists the names of
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people who've contributed to the project. You can browse the revision
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control history, source code, and issue tracking at the Trac instance
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[9]. Please see the buildbot [10], which shows how Tahoe builds and
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passes unit tests on each checkin, and the code coverage results [11]
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and percentage-covered graph [12], which show how much of the Tahoe
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source code is currently exercised by the test suite.
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NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
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Each peer maintains a connection to each other peer. A single
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distinct server called an "introducer" is used to discover other peers
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with which to connect.
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To store a file, the file is encrypted and erasure coded, and each
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resulting share is uploaded to a different peer. The secure hash of
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the encrypted file and the encryption key are packed into a URI,
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knowledge of which is necessary and sufficient to recover the file.
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To fetch a file, starting with the URI, a subset of shares is
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downloaded from peers, the file is reconstructed from the shares, and
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then decrypted.
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A single distinct server called a "vdrive server" maintains a global
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mapping from pathnames/filenames to URIs.
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We are acutely aware of the limitations of decentralization and
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scalability inherent in this version. In particular, the
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completely-connected property of the grid and the requirement of a
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single distinct introducer and vdrive server limits the possible size
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of the grid. We have plans to loosen these limitations (see
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roadmap.txt). Currently it should be noted that the grid already
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depends as little as possible on the accessibility and correctness of
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the introduction server and the vdrive server. Also note that the
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choice of which servers to use is easily configured -- you should be
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able to set up a private grid for you and your friends almost as
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easily as to connect to our public test grid.
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SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
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Tahoe is a "from the ground-up" rewrite, inspired by Allmydata's
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existing consumer backup service. It is primarily written in the
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Python programming language.
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Tahoe is based on the Foolscap library [13] which provides a remote
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object protocol inspired by the capability-secure "E" programming
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language [14]. Foolscap allows us to express the intended behavior of
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the distributed grid directly in object-oriented terms while relying
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on a well-engineered, secure transport layer.
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The network layer is provided by the Twisted library [15].
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Computationally intensive operations are performed in native compiled
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code, such as the "zfec" library for fast erasure coding (also
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available separately: [16]).
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Tahoe is sponsored by Allmydata, Inc. [17], a provider of consumer
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backup services. Allmydata, Inc. contributes hardware, software,
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ideas, bug reports, suggestions, demands, and money (employing several
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allmydata.org Tahoe hackers and allowing them to spend part of their
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work time on the next-generation, free-software project). We are
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eternally grateful!
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Zooko O'Whielacronx
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on behalf of the allmydata.org Tahoe team
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August 23, 2007
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Boulder, Colorado
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[1] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/browser/relnotes.txt?rev=849
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[2] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/browser/docs/webapi.txt
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[3] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/timeline?from=2007-08-23&daysback=57&changeset=on&ticket=on&wiki=on&update=Update
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[4] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/wiki/UseCases
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[5] http://allmydata.org/source/tahoe/tahoe-0.5.1.tar.gz
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[6] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/browser/README?rev=1141
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[7] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/browser/roadmap.txt
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[8] http://allmydata.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tahoe-dev
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[9] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe
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[10] http://allmydata.org/buildbot
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[11] http://allmydata.org/tahoe-figleaf/figleaf/
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[12] http://allmydata.org/tahoe-figleaf-graph/hanford.allmydata.com-tahoe_figleaf.html
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[13] http://twistedmatrix.com/trac/wiki/FoolsCap
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[14] http://erights.org/
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[15] http://twistedmatrix.com/
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[16] http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/browser/src/zfec
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[17] http://allmydata.com
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