Shardeum Optimizes Active Nodelist Synching

We’re thrilled to announce the recent rollout of an update to our Nodelist Syncing Protocol. Introducing you to Nodelist Syncing V2! 🌟

Background

On Shardeum, we have three types of nodes:

• Validator Nodes: These nodes play a critical role in the Shardeum network by actively validating and processing transactions. They participate in the consensus mechanism, helping to secure the network and ensure the integrity of the blockchain.
• Archive Nodes: Archive nodes are tasked with maintaining the complete historical states of the blockchain. This is crucial for various network functions, including auditing, retrieving historical data, and ensuring the long-term integrity and accessibility of blockchain history.
• Standby Nodes: Standby nodes are essentially validator nodes that are not actively/currently participating in the consensus process. They stand ready to step in during high traffic, ensuring the network remains resilient and can maintain its operational capacity. Standby and active nodes are also auto-rotated in and out regularly to maximize security and decentralization while preventing malicious takeovers.

What is Nodelist Synching?

On Shardeum, every node on the network must know and keep track of all the other nodes that join, leave or remain in the network. This is because nodes need to be able to accurately and rapidly route transactions to the correct nodes. Consequently, every active node on Shardeum has a local node list which contains all the necessary data about every node in the network for both active nodes and archiver nodes. Before an incoming standby node can become an active node, the joining nodes are required to sync to the latest nodelist based on the most recent cycle record.

Optimizing Nodelist Syncing Protocol

Previously, the V1 of the protocol required incoming nodes to sync multiple of the most recent cycle chain records before creating a nodelist – which took more cycles and thus nodes took longer to sync. We ultimately decided to upgrade from V1 to V2 due to all the benefits V2 creates and these benefits are created by the difference in how V1 and V2 work. Nodelist Syncing V2 allows incoming active nodes to directly sync the nodelist from other nodes by verifying the hash (a one way digital output) of the most recent cycle record. This fundamental shift in methodology not only simplifies synchronization but significantly accelerates it.

Benefits of Optimizing Active Nodelist Syncing

With this upgrade, Shardeum will achieve following benefits:

1. Speed

One of the standout features of V2 is its blazing fast syncing capability. With V2, the nodelist is synced much quicker, meaning standby nodes can join the network quicker and go through less cycles when syncing, saving valuable time and further reducing an already rapid syncing process. 🚀

2. Efficiency

With V2, nodes don’t have to maintain numerous previous cycle records – only the latest cycle record is required. ⚙️

3. Enhanced Network Performance

With this upgrade, we’ve optimized performance, ensuring smoother and more streamlined operations on the blockchain network.🚄

4. Enhanced Node Performance

Nodelist Syncing V2 has enhanced node performance, making it less likely that any node issues arise during the syncing processing. It also solves the edge cases detected in Shardeum’s betanet, improving the speed, reliability, and performance of node syncing. ⚙️

5. Reliability

By leveraging robust queries and hash checks, V2 ensures unmatched data accuracy, guaranteeing that you’re always synced to the latest nodelist. 🔐

6. Scalability Boost

The protocol minimizes the amount of data each node has to store, making the network more efficient. This will allow the network to grow even larger and be more scalable! 📊

Conclusion

Nodelist Syncing V2 isn’t just an upgrade; it’s a leap towards a more robust and efficient future for Shardeum’s ecosystem. We’re thrilled to have you onboard for this journey. Keep your eyes on Shardeum for exciting updates, and join us in pioneering the next chapter of Web3!

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