Developers
Validators
System Requirements

System Requirements

What You'll Learn

  • Complete hardware and software requirements for running Allora validators
  • Understanding validator responsibilities and infrastructure requirements
  • How validators execute loss-calculation logic using WASM and IPFS
  • Current access requirements and application process for validator participation

Overview

You can use any modern Linux distribution to run an Allora validator.
Internally we use Debian 12 x86_64.

Why These Requirements Matter

Infrastructure Importance:

  • Network reliability: Robust hardware ensures consistent validator performance
  • Consensus participation: Adequate resources enable proper blockchain consensus
  • Scalability: Sufficient capacity handles growing network demands
  • Security: Professional-grade infrastructure protects network integrity

Hardware Specifications

Production Requirements

MAINNET and TESTNET validators' requirements:

  • CPU: ≥6cores, ≥12 threads
  • Memory: ≥64GB
  • Disk: SSD or NVMe ≥1.92 TB total
  • Bandwidth: ≥1Gbit/s guaranteed

Specification Rationale

CPU Requirements:

  • Multi-threading: Parallel processing for consensus and WASM execution
  • Performance: Adequate processing power for real-time network operations
  • Reliability: Professional-grade processors for continuous operation

Memory Requirements:

  • Large datasets: Handle blockchain state and historical data
  • Caching: Improve performance through in-memory data storage
  • Future-proofing: Accommodate network growth and increased activity

Storage Requirements:

  • High-speed access: SSD/NVMe for fast data retrieval and blockchain operations
  • Capacity planning: Sufficient space for blockchain data and growth
  • Reliability: Enterprise-grade storage for data integrity

Network Requirements:

  • Guaranteed bandwidth: Consistent network performance for consensus participation
  • Latency optimization: Fast communication with other validators
  • Redundancy: Multiple network connections for reliability

Access and Participation

Current Status

Note: Participating as a validator is temporarily allowed only for whitelisted accounts. The Upshot Team currently has access to whitelisted addresses. We plan to make this action permissionless soon. In the meantime, those interested in becoming validators should reach out here (opens in a new tab).

Application Process

How to Apply:

  • Submit application: Complete the Google Form with validator information
  • Wait for review: Upshot Team evaluates applications for network suitability
  • Receive whitelist: Approved validators gain access to network participation
  • Follow setup: Complete validator deployment following technical documentation

Future Access:

  • Permissionless transition: Network will become open to all qualified participants
  • Democratic participation: Removal of centralized approval requirements
  • Community governance: Validator participation based on technical and economic criteria

Validator Responsibilities

Core Functions

Validators are responsible for operating most of the infrastructure associated with instantiating the Allora Network. They do this in three ways:

  1. Staking in worker nodes (data scientists) based on their confidence in said workers' abilities to produce accurate inferences.
  2. Operating the appchain as Cosmos validators.

Operational Duties

Infrastructure Management:

  • Network security: Maintain blockchain consensus and transaction validation
  • Worker evaluation: Assess and stake on promising data science participants
  • System monitoring: Ensure continuous uptime and performance optimization
  • Community participation: Engage in governance and network decision-making

Technical Architecture

WASM-Based Loss Calculation

Executing Loss-Calculation Logic Off-Chain:

The topic-specific logic ran by validators is compiled to WASM and stored on IPFS. Our appchain calls upon validators to execute this logic in every topic.loss_cadence-length epoch. Running this WASM involves querying for the following values:

Data Requirements

WASM Execution Process:

  • Current set of losses between reputers and workers
  • Inferences from the past epoch
  • The revealed ground truth consisting of up to topic.inference_cadence/topic.loss_cadence-many values. In other words, it entails one ground truth value for each inference cadence within the preceding loss-calculation epoch.

Transaction Processing

The WASM also involves committing the new losses to the appchain in a transaction. This is ultimately done by one b7s node.

Execution Benefits:

  • Cost efficiency: Off-chain computation reduces validator operating expenses
  • Flexibility: Topic creators can write loss-calculation logic in any WASM-compatible language
  • Maintainability: Reduces need for frequent node software upgrades
  • Scalability: Module source code remains unchanged as new topics are added

Technical Advantages

Off-Chain Processing Benefits:

  • Computing loss-calculation logic off-chain saves the network validators operating expenses (because less is run on-chain)
  • Allows topic creators to write loss-calculation logic in any language (that compiles to WASM)
  • Lessens the need for frequent node software upgrades (because the module source code remains unchanged even as new topics are added, each with their specific loss-calculation schemes)

Planning and Preparation

Infrastructure Assessment

Pre-Deployment Checklist:

  • Hardware procurement: Ensure all system requirements are met or exceeded
  • Network setup: Configure high-speed, reliable internet connectivity
  • Operating system: Install and configure supported Linux distribution
  • Security measures: Implement firewalls, monitoring, and backup systems

Cost Considerations

Financial Planning:

  • Hardware investment: Professional-grade servers and networking equipment
  • Operational costs: Electricity, internet, and facility expenses
  • Maintenance budget: Ongoing upgrades and support requirements
  • Stake requirements: Initial and ongoing token commitments

Prerequisites

  • Technical expertise: Strong understanding of blockchain operations and Linux systems
  • Infrastructure resources: Professional-grade hardware and networking
  • Financial commitment: Significant investment in equipment and operations
  • Time availability: Ongoing monitoring and maintenance responsibilities

Next Steps

ValidatorsDeploy Allora Chain