88 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
88 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# 0003. Geth node for Beta
|
|
|
|
| Date | Tags |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| 2018-05-14 | architecture, p2p, scope |
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Status
|
|
|
|
proposed
|
|
|
|
## Context
|
|
|
|
On the path to releasing a usable beta we've faced a variety of performance
|
|
issues:
|
|
|
|
- https://github.com/status-im/ideas/issues/55
|
|
- https://ideas.status.im/ideas/071-low-traffic
|
|
- https://ideas.status.im/ideas/076-smooth-ui
|
|
- https://ideas.status.im/ideas/083-energy-efficient
|
|
|
|
Some of these performance issues are related to the use of LES, especially on
|
|
Mainnet. Examples of problems include: slow/hot sync, disk filling up, bandwidth
|
|
usage, etc. This can partly be remedied by the use of CHT to speed up sync
|
|
(https://github.com/status-im/status-go/wiki/Updating-CHT-BloomTrie).
|
|
|
|
In order to simplify the problem, we decided earlier this year to not spend too
|
|
much time looking into performance improvements related to LES, instead focusing
|
|
our efforts on improving the performance on Whisper and in client-side code.
|
|
|
|
This also means we don't have a full picture of to what extent LES is a
|
|
performance bottleneck for the Status app. It is possible proper use of CHT,
|
|
slowing sync down, vary load depending on if you are on WiFi or not, etc, can
|
|
solve these problems. However, the consensus right now is that ULC is the more
|
|
promising route to take.
|
|
|
|
However, since ULC isn't ready yet, this means we are relying on Infura. This
|
|
is a bad idea from a decentralization and security point of view. This can be
|
|
partly remedied by allowing the user to run an upstream node. It is still a bad
|
|
trust model, relying on third-party Ethereum nodes, and we want to get away
|
|
from this as soon as possible.
|
|
|
|
With ULC it is possible to connect to more than one node, which increases
|
|
decentralization and security.
|
|
|
|
## Decision
|
|
|
|
1. Rely on upstream nodes for beta. For the closed beta scheduled to be releases
|
|
Q2 we will provide two ways of accessing the Ethereum network:
|
|
|
|
- Upstream RPC with Infura (default)
|
|
- Custom upstream node (https://github.com/status-im/status-react/issues/3994)
|
|
|
|
From a decentralization point of view we need the latter before we can release
|
|
the beta.
|
|
|
|
2. ULC MVP. Additionally, as soon as beta is released, assess and start to
|
|
introduce ULC as an experimental non-default mode in the app.
|
|
|
|
By doing this we also support the network, since it is still a very new
|
|
protocol. ULC requires trusted peers to operate, and right now trust is
|
|
established by config (list of trusted peers).
|
|
|
|
Initially we could hardcode these nodes, with option to add your own. Later on
|
|
we can have some form of distributed directory with a rating system. This also
|
|
likely requires merging ULC upstream, so we aren't the only ones running trusted
|
|
nodes.
|
|
|
|
3. LES track (optional). If we still have resources and there's interest,
|
|
optionally run a parallel track to clean up LES usage (update CHT, cluster) and
|
|
understand exact performance impact and viablity of running LES on
|
|
resource-constrained devices.
|
|
|
|
These three decisions balances the following trade-offs:
|
|
|
|
- get a usable beta released as soon as possible
|
|
- provide users with options to get minimal amount of decentralization
|
|
- pave the way for trustless usage by default (ULC/LES node)
|
|
|
|
## Consequences
|
|
|
|
Most of this is captured above.
|
|
|
|
- 1. Make sure custom upstream RPC is in beta and works
|
|
- 2. Disable LES from beta release as it currently doesn't work reliably
|
|
- 3. Continue work on https://github.com/status-im/ideas/pull/254/files, consider
|
|
adding more resources to get it into MVP state as soon as possible
|