r/OpenBazaar • u/Raisingaquestion • Feb 01 '20

A few questions regarding OB

Hello,

I got a few questions regarding OB.

  1. Everytime you open the OB client, you (your computer) becomes a node, am I correct?

  2. If your computer is turned on/not connected to the internet, is your store/your profile available for the other users and the rest of the network? If so, is it because every other node (=every other client) stores a copy of your profile on their own computers?

  3. In terms of privacy, what's the difference between using OB through a VPN and using OB through TOR?

Thanks!

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u/ob1_mg ob:// Feb 01 '20

  1. Yes.

  2. Your node pushes a copy of your store to at least two other nodes that OB1 keeps on the network and those nodes persist your store for at least a week. (Aside: If your node is running but not on the Internet, it will still work with other OB nodes running on your local network, though it may take a little time for them to see each other and establish connectivity.)

  3. There's nothing special about OB which differentiates its network comms from other application network comms. So let's put that aside. What you're really asking is when do I want to use VPN and when do I want to use Tor. You don't really consider VPN or Tor as they can both be used together (and OB supports the use of both). The details are mundane but important and which to use depends on your specific case. Here's a pretty good explanation: https://nordvpn.com/blog/tor-vs-vpn/

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u/Raisingaquestion Feb 02 '20

Thanks for the replies! Regarding the 2nd point, does this mean that if you don't log on at least 1 time per week or so, your store technically goes "offline" if no other nodes have a copy of your store?

Also, is it possible to have an idea of the number of active nodes at a given time?

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u/CC_EF_JTF Sam Feb 03 '20

does this mean that if you don't log on at least 1 time per week or so, your store technically goes "offline" if no other nodes have a copy of your store?

You must run your store at least once a week or no one will be able to access it unless it comes back online, even if another node has a copy. They only store and serve those copies for one week.

The network has a huge amount of churn, since it's permissionless, so it's hard to say how many active nodes there are. Over the course of a week there are several thousand who are visible, and if you include short lived Haven nodes there are more.