hi all,

great job with protowall, BLM, hosts file etc.

my hosts file is getting rather large (approx 1mb) and i'm concerned that browsing performance will lag as this file is read everytime i enter a URL.

a more technically minded friend came up with the idea of mapping the HOSTS file to memory to speed performance, so it doesn't have to be read from disk. Is this feasible and would it work?

If this is a good idea, would someone who can code be willing to write a app that could be put into programs/startup to automatically load HOSTS into memory on boot up.

Rick

Hi, joe_bloggs, and welcome to the forums.

Really it depends on the operating system and browser.
If using Windows 2000 or XP, it will slow down your syste under one condition, if you have the DNS client service running. What that does is cache and resolve all the entries in the HOSTS file, which causes lag for about 30 seconds when you start your computer or your browser. Turning it off will keep everything nice and speedy. Under any other condition, a large HOSTS file won't slow anything down, even if it's 3 Mbs or more.

So, the idea is feasable, but it's impracticle with large HOSTS files. It actually causes the lag, instead of preventing it
And to make a new program to do it may be more trouble than it's worth.

Now, browsers usually cache the HOSTS file (or parts of it) as long as it is open. This won't slow anything down.

So, really, there's nothing to worry about.
If you're wondering how to shut off the DNS client service in Windows 2000 or XP, just press the Windows key+R and type: services.msc
Then scroll down and stop and disable the DNS client service.

That help any?

-- Xero Grid --

many thanks for the advice XG,

i'm trying various methods to get optimal filtering without compromising browsing/download speed. Currently i've been playing with IP blocking (using protowall/PG and firewalls), modified HOSTS with a localhost server, Opera filtering rules, and have eventually got a .pac file to work satisfactorily (using John Loverso's).

haven't found the gold standard yet, as some things you'd expect to work, don't go that smoothly. It would be interesting to know what other people use.

Rick

Well, I maintain my own free project, not hosted here, that does a lot of what you want in one installer. If you're interested, the links are in my sig. Or, I would highly recommend SpywareBlaster. And as a hassle-free browser, I would recommend Firefox.

And for more tools and/or guide, the Online Security Section is a great place to start.

Peace.

-- Xero Grid --

As far as mapping the HOSTS file to memory.....not sure how that would work Im thinking it would require looking at the windows source code or something though To see how windows makes the \drivers\etc the "home" for the HOSTS file, to then map it to a RAM drive or something instead But, I havent seen a slow-down, but I have that DNS Service off.