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Hardware Requirements

Before setting up a Pilier validator node, ensure your infrastructure meets these specifications.

Minimum Specifications​

For testnet validators:

CPU: 4 cores (x86_64)
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 500 GB NVMe SSD
Network: 100 Mbps symmetric
OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or 24.04 LTS

Estimated cost: €40-€80/month (cloud hosting)

For mainnet validators (production):

CPU: 8 cores (x86_64, Intel Xeon or AMD EPYC)
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 1 TB NVMe SSD (enterprise-grade)
Network: 1 Gbps symmetric, low latency (\<50ms to other validators)
OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Estimated cost: €80-€150/month (dedicated server)

Why These Requirements?​

ComponentPurposeImpact if insufficient
CPUExecute runtime (Wasm), validate transactionsSlow block production, missed slots
RAMCache blockchain state, handle concurrent connectionsOOM crashes, slow sync
StorageStore blockchain database (~10 GB/year growth)Disk full = node stops
NetworkP2P communication, block propagationMissed blocks, poor peer connectivity

Storage Sizing​

Estimated storage growth:

Testnet:
├─ Initial: ~5 GB (genesis + first month)
├─ Growth: ~1 GB/month
└─ Plan for: 100 GB minimum (testnet resets periodically)

Mainnet:
├─ Initial: ~10 GB (genesis state)
├─ Growth: ~10 GB/year (estimated, depends on usage)
└─ Plan for: 500 GB minimum (5 years capacity)

Archive node:
├─ Full history (no pruning)
├─ Growth: ~50 GB/year
└─ Plan for: 1 TB+ (mainnet archive)

Network Requirements​

Bandwidth​

Minimum:

  • Download: 100 Mbps
  • Upload: 100 Mbps (symmetric important!)

Recommended:

  • Download: 1 Gbps
  • Upload: 1 Gbps

Why symmetric? Validators constantly gossip blocks/transactions to peers. Asymmetric connections (e.g., 1 Gbps down / 100 Mbps up) create bottlenecks.

Latency​

Target: <50ms to other validators

Check latency:

# Ping Pilier boot nodes
ping bootnode-1.pilier.net
ping bootnode-2.pilier.net

# Should see: time <50ms

High latency impact:

  • Missed block production slots
  • Delayed finality voting
  • Reduced peer reputation

Ports​

Required ports (firewall must allow):

Inbound:
├─ 30333/tcp - P2P networking (peer connections)

Outbound:
├─ 30333/tcp - Connect to other validators/nodes
├─ 443/tcp - HTTPS (for telemetry, updates)

Optional ports (internal/VPN only):

9933/tcp - HTTP RPC (management interface)
9944/tcp - WebSocket RPC (wallet connections)
9615/tcp - Prometheus metrics (monitoring)
Security

Never expose RPC ports (9933, 9944) to public internet! Use SSH tunneling or VPN for remote access.

Operating System​

Officially Supported​

✅ Debian 12 (Bookworm) - recommended for production ✅ Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - recommended for ease of use ✅ Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - latest features

Choose based on your preference. All three are fully tested and supported.

Installation Notes​

Debian users: Ensure sudo is installed:

su -
apt install sudo
usermod -aG sudo your-username

Ubuntu users: sudo is pre-installed, proceed to next step.

Hosting Options​

Cloud Providers (Easy, Scalable)​

ProviderRegionSpecsCost/monthNotes
OVH (recommended)FR, DE8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD€60-€100EU-based, good network
HetznerDE, FI8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe€50-€80Best price/performance
DigitalOceanEU regions8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 640 GB SSD€140Easy to use
AWS EC2eu-west-1c6i.2xlarge, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB EBS€200-€300High availability, expensive

Recommendation for testnet: Hetzner or OVH (best value) Recommendation for mainnet: Dedicated server or AWS (reliability)

Bare Metal (Best Performance)​

Providers:

  • Hetzner dedicated servers (€60-€120/month)
  • OVH dedicated servers (€80-€150/month)
  • Scaleway dedicated servers (€70-€140/month)

Advantages: ✅ Better performance (no virtualization overhead) ✅ Predictable resources (no "noisy neighbors") ✅ Lower cost for equivalent specs

Disadvantages: ❌ Slower provisioning (hours vs. minutes) ❌ Harder to scale (can't resize on-the-fly)

Can you run a validator at home?

⚠️ Testnet: Yes (for learning/testing) ❌ Mainnet: Not recommended

Why not home?

  • Unreliable uptime (ISP outages, power cuts)
  • Dynamic IP addresses (peer discovery issues)
  • Limited bandwidth (ISP throttling)
  • Security risks (home network = weaker than data center)

If you must:

  • UPS (uninterruptible power supply)
  • Static IP or dynamic DNS
  • Fiber connection (1 Gbps symmetric)
  • DMZ or dedicated VLAN (network isolation)

Pre-Flight Checklist​

Before proceeding to installation, verify:

  • Hardware meets minimum specifications (testnet) or recommended (mainnet)
  • OS is Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 11+
  • Ports 30333/tcp is not blocked by firewall
  • Network has symmetric bandwidth (100+ Mbps up/down)
  • Latency to Pilier boot nodes is less than 100ms
  • Disk is NVMe SSD (not HDD, not SATA SSD)
  • You have sudo access to the server
  • Server is dedicated to Pilier (not shared with other services)

Next Steps​

Once your hardware is ready:

  1. Install dependencies → Installation Guide
  2. Build Pilier node → Installation Guide
  3. Configure systemd service → Configuration Guide
  4. Generate session keys → Session Keys Guide

Questions?​