Hardware Requirements

This guide covers the hardware specifications needed to run a NONOS node at different scales.

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Quick Reference

Tier	CPU	RAM	Storage	Network	Stake
Minimum	2 cores	4 GB	50 GB SSD	10 Mbps	1,000 NOX
Recommended	4 cores	8 GB	100 GB SSD	100 Mbps	10,000+ NOX
Optimal	8+ cores	16+ GB	500 GB NVMe	1 Gbps	50,000+ NOX

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Detailed Requirements

CPU

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        CPU REQUIREMENTS                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Minimum: 2 cores @ 2.0 GHz
    ├── Handles basic P2P operations
    ├── Supports ~100 concurrent connections
    └── Suitable for Bronze tier

    Recommended: 4 cores @ 2.5 GHz
    ├── Handles cryptographic operations efficiently
    ├── Supports ~500 concurrent connections
    └── Suitable for Silver/Gold tier

    Optimal: 8+ cores @ 3.0 GHz
    ├── Maximum parallel processing
    ├── Supports 1000+ concurrent connections
    └── Suitable for Platinum/Diamond tier

    Notes:
    • Modern x86_64 or ARM64 required
    • AES-NI instruction set recommended
    • Higher clock speed preferred over core count

Why It Matters: The node performs constant cryptographic operations (AES-GCM encryption, Poseidon hashing). Better CPU = faster operations = better quality score.

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Memory (RAM)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        MEMORY ALLOCATION                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    4 GB Minimum Breakdown:
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Operating System        │    1 GB      │
    │ NONOS Daemon            │    1 GB      │
    │ P2P Connection Pool     │    1 GB      │
    │ Cache/Working Memory    │    1 GB      │
    └────────────────────────────────────────┘

    8 GB Recommended Breakdown:
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Operating System        │    1 GB      │
    │ NONOS Daemon            │    2 GB      │
    │ P2P Connection Pool     │    2 GB      │
    │ Cache/Working Memory    │    2 GB      │
    │ Buffer/Headroom         │    1 GB      │
    └────────────────────────────────────────┘

    16 GB Optimal:
    • Maximum cache size
    • More concurrent operations
    • Room for monitoring tools

Why It Matters: More RAM enables larger cache sizes and more concurrent connections, directly improving your quality score.

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Storage

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        STORAGE REQUIREMENTS                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Type: SSD Required (NVMe preferred)

    HDD: ✗ Not recommended
    ├── Slow random I/O
    ├── Cannot keep up with cache operations
    └── Will significantly impact quality score

    SATA SSD: ✓ Acceptable
    ├── 500+ MB/s sequential
    ├── 50k+ IOPS random
    └── Suitable for most operators

    NVMe SSD: ✓ Optimal
    ├── 2000+ MB/s sequential
    ├── 200k+ IOPS random
    └── Best performance

    Space Allocation:
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Component              │ Space         │
    ├────────────────────────┼───────────────┤
    │ NONOS Binary           │ ~50 MB        │
    │ Configuration          │ ~1 MB         │
    │ Node Identity/Keys     │ ~1 MB         │
    │ Encrypted Cache        │ 10-400 GB     │
    │ Logs (with rotation)   │ 1-5 GB        │
    │ ZK Identity Store      │ ~100 MB       │
    │ Metrics Database       │ 1-5 GB        │
    └────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why It Matters: Fast storage enables quick cache lookups and better response times, improving latency scores.

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Network

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        NETWORK REQUIREMENTS                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Bandwidth:
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  10 Mbps (Minimum)                                              │
    │  ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░   │
    │  Basic operation, limited concurrent connections                │
    │                                                                 │
    │  100 Mbps (Recommended)                                         │
    │  ████████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  │
    │  Good performance, 100+ concurrent users                        │
    │                                                                 │
    │  1 Gbps (Optimal)                                               │
    │  ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████░░ │
    │  Excellent performance, 500+ concurrent users                   │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Monthly Data Transfer (Estimates):
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Activity Level    │ Data/Month        │
    ├───────────────────┼───────────────────┤
    │ Low               │ 100-500 GB        │
    │ Medium            │ 500 GB - 2 TB     │
    │ High              │ 2-10 TB           │
    │ Very High         │ 10+ TB            │
    └───────────────────┴───────────────────┘

    Required Ports:
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Port     │ Protocol │ Purpose          │
    ├──────────┼──────────┼──────────────────┤
    │ 9000     │ TCP      │ P2P connections  │
    │ 9000     │ UDP      │ QUIC (optional)  │
    │ 8420     │ TCP      │ Local API        │
    └──────────┴──────────┴──────────────────┘

Why It Matters: Network bandwidth and latency directly affect your quality score. Lower latency = higher rewards.

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Cloud Provider Recommendations (Examples)

AWS

Instance Type	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Monthly Cost*	Recommended Tier
t3.medium	2	4 GB	50 GB gp3	~$35	Bronze
t3.large	2	8 GB	100 GB gp3	~$65	Silver
m5.xlarge	4	16 GB	200 GB gp3	~$150	Gold
c5.2xlarge	8	16 GB	500 GB gp3	~$280	Platinum

DigitalOcean

Droplet	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Monthly Cost*	Recommended Tier
Basic 2GB	1	2 GB	50 GB	~$12	Not recommended
Basic 4GB	2	4 GB	80 GB	~$24	Bronze
General 8GB	2	8 GB	160 GB	~$48	Silver
CPU 16GB	4	16 GB	100 GB	~$90	Gold

Hetzner

Server	CPU	RAM	Storage	Monthly Cost*	Recommended Tier
CPX11	2 vCPU	2 GB	40 GB	~€5	Not recommended
CPX21	3 vCPU	4 GB	80 GB	~€9	Bronze
CPX31	4 vCPU	8 GB	160 GB	~€16	Silver
CPX41	8 vCPU	16 GB	240 GB	~€30	Gold

*Prices are estimates and may vary by region.

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Home Setup

Minimum Home Setup

Internet Connection: 100 Mbps symmetric (or 50/10 asymmetric minimum)
Router: Port forwarding capable
Hardware: Any modern computer
Power: UPS recommended for uptime

Recommended Home Hardware

Component	Specification	Estimated Cost
Mini PC	Intel N100/N305	$150-300
RAM	8-16 GB DDR4	Included
Storage	256 GB NVMe	Included
UPS	600VA	$50-100
Total		$200-400

Raspberry Pi?

Pi Model	Suitable?	Notes
Pi 4 (4GB)	⚠️ Marginal	May struggle under load
Pi 4 (8GB)	✓ Bronze only	Acceptable for light use
Pi 5 (8GB)	✓ Good	Recommended for home

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Quality Score Impact

Your hardware directly affects your quality score:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    HARDWARE → QUALITY CORRELATION                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Factor          │ Hardware Component │ Score Impact
    ────────────────┼────────────────────┼─────────────────
    Uptime          │ UPS, Reliability   │ 30% weight
    Success Rate    │ CPU, RAM           │ 35% weight
    Latency         │ Network, SSD       │ 20% weight
    Consistency     │ All components     │ 15% weight

    Example Impact:
    ┌──────────────────┬─────────────────┬───────────────────┐
    │ Hardware         │ Typical Score   │ Reward Multiplier │
    ├──────────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────────────┤
    │ Minimum spec     │ 70-80%          │ 0.70-0.80x        │
    │ Recommended spec │ 85-95%          │ 0.85-0.95x        │
    │ Optimal spec     │ 95-100%         │ 0.95-1.00x        │
    └──────────────────┴─────────────────┴───────────────────┘

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Scaling Considerations

As you stake more and expect more traffic:

Stake Level	Expected Traffic	Recommended Upgrade
1,000-10,000 NOX	Light	Minimum spec OK
10,000-50,000 NOX	Moderate	Upgrade RAM and storage
50,000-200,000 NOX	Heavy	Full recommended spec
200,000+ NOX	Very Heavy	Optimal spec required

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Pre-Launch Checklist

Before running your node, verify:

• CPU meets minimum requirements (2+ cores)

• RAM meets minimum requirements (4+ GB)

• Storage is SSD (not HDD)

• Network port 9000 is accessible

• Bandwidth is sufficient (10+ Mbps)

• UPS or stable power (for uptime score)

• System clock is synchronized (NTP enabled)

# Quick verification command
nonos check hardware

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Next: Configuration Guide - Set up your node configuration