# Hardware Requirements *** ### 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 | *** ### 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. *** #### 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. *** #### 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. *** #### 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. *** ### 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. *** ### 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 | *** ### 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 │ └──────────────────┴─────────────────┴───────────────────┘ ``` *** ### 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 | *** ### 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) ```bash # Quick verification command nonos check hardware ``` *** > **Next**: Configuration Guide - Set up your node configuration