Wed Sep 20, 2017 12:00 pm
As suggested, users get wise to enabling BitTorrent encryption etc which will make layer 7 efforts far less or completely in-effective, savvy users may even start to use VPN to hide the traffic
You're better off approaching this from a QoS point of view, prioritising certain traffic leaving bulk traffic to use whatever is left. This should go a long way to keeping legit users happy.
You could also control access to various sites via DNS using services such as OpenDNS or similar (don't forget DNS redirect to prevent work arounds). This won't stop the most determined users but will be another tool in the arsenal.
You could also add various popular (illegal file sharing) tracker Domain Names as static entries in your DNS pointing to 127.0.0.1 to scupper their Torrent Clients from making connections. This doesn't mitigate DHT though.
Depending on policies/contracts - monitors users bandwidth and or DNS queries to single out users breaking rules/conditions and approach them about the issue or build a case for removing them from your network.
One issue that's making it harder in relation to BitTorrent is the increasing use of BitTorrent for legitimate purposes. i.e. OS Updates, Game Updates, numerous Open Source software downloads etc
Myself I run a Torrent Client 24/7 sharing things such as Raspbian, Linux installs, Bootable Images etc. I run this from my VPN from OVH but a lot of users do this from home connections.
If users are running BitTorrent for legit purposes on your network where do you stand...?
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