Performance Tuning

This guide covers the hardware, storage, and client choices that yield the best Base node performance.

Hardware

A performant Base node needs adequate hardware. Recommended minimums:

1. A modern multi-core CPU with strong single-core performance.

2. At least 32 GB of RAM (64 GB preferred).

3. A locally attached NVMe SSD. RAID 0 layouts can boost throughput.

4. Sufficient capacity, sized as:

   (2 × [current chain size] + [snapshot size] + 20% buffer)

   The formula reserves room for chain growth and snapshot restoration. See Base Stats for the current chain size and Base Chain Data for snapshot size.

Note

On AWS Elastic Block Store, io2 Block Express volumes provide enough disk read throughput to avoid latency issues during initial sync. Even so, locally attached NVMe SSDs are strongly preferred over networked storage.

Production hardware

Base production nodes use the following hardware:

• Reth archive node
  • Instance: AWS i7i.12xlarge or larger
  • Storage: RAID 0 across all local NVMe drives (/dev/nvme*)
  • Filesystem: ext4

Initial sync

Restore from a recent snapshot to dramatically shorten initial sync.

Client software

The Base Node repository carries the current stable client configurations and run instructions.

Reth is currently the most performant Base client, and ongoing optimization work is concentrated there. Background on the move to Reth: Scaling Base with Reth.