FAQ

FAQ - Forban
http://www.foo.be/forban/

== Protocol ==

Q1. Why don't you use SSDP, Bonjour or any other existing
    service announce and discovery in Forban?

    Forban was first designed to rely on SSDP but we quickly
    discovered various limitation or overhead that limited
    us to use it. One the major limitation is the requirement
    to include a Host: entry in a SSDP Notify message.

    One of the main concept behind Forban is the ability to
    setup something quickly even if IP addresses behind are
    changing regularly. So we changed to a simple flooding
    announce message without auto-shut-off algorithm or
    ssdp:byebye scheme. We are using the old but functional
    broadcast in IPv4 that allows Forban to work even where 
    multicast is not properly switched.

    We choose to design a small and stateless announce protocol 
    that can be implemented without an XML parser or any complex
    state machine.

    For more information :
    http://www.gitorious.org/forban/forban/blobs/master/README
   
Q2. Why Forban is configured by default in opportunistic
    mode and getting all in files in its proximity?

    That was the core idea of Forban when the project started.
    When you start for the first time your Forban, it will fetch
    automatically all files from his proximity. This is quite
    important for very ephemeral connectivity. So the gossip
    operation or the epidemic algorithm is the standard way
    of operation. This was there to ensure a kind of persistence
    of the data replicated.

    If you don't want to use the opportunistic mode, there 
    is the shared mode, where you can propose files to
    be downloaded but where your Forban is not doing the
    replication of all the files in its surrounding. You
    can still download the files in a more conventional way
    using the web interface.

    To change between the two modes, you'll just need to
    set it in the configuration :

    mode = opportunistic
    or
    mode = shared


== Operation ==

Q3. Why can't I see any Forban while using the Wireless network?

    To discover Forban, there is a simple discovery service looking
    for specific broadcast packet in IPv4 and multicast packet in IPv6.
    Some Wireless network are blocking those packets between wireless
    clients. You must allow broadcast and/or multicast packets on your
    Wireless access-point.

Q4. I can see Forban in the interface but it can't copy any files?

    The port used for communication is the TCP port 12555 using the
    standard HTTP protocol. Maybe you have a local firewall or packet
    filter on the machine blocking the TCP port 1255. The UDP port 12555
    is also used for the discovery.


== Security ==

Q5. Forban can be used to automatically distribute malware or
    viruses?

    Yes but just like any other opportunistic file exchange scheme
    or even HTTP services. This can be used as an easy way to exchange
    malware or viruses. User must always use the appropriate measure
    to protect his computer or mobile device (e.g. using a filter 
    list in Forban, using an updated antivirus).


If you have any question or ideas, send them to adulau @ foo . be