github NethermindEth/nethermind 1.26.0
v1.26.0
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latest releases: 1.29.1, 1.29.0, 1.29.0-rc...
6 months ago

Release notes

Major highlights

State design upgrade: Half-path

This version introduces a new approach to the state database: half-path. It replaces the previous approach, which we will call hash for these notes.

The goal of half-path is to improve the performance of the existing database without significant codebase changes. It is a middleware between the hash and full-path-based designs (which we are currently working on). It is mainly aimed at validators' performance (we observed a significant improvement in effectiveness) and, as a side effect, improving archive nodes' sync.

Major achievements

  • Block processing time is faster by about 30 to 50% (depending on the hardware setup), but we observed that it improves low-end setups more, so the cost of hosting nodes using Nethermind software may decrease.
  • The state database size is ~25% smaller (the previous approach is now close to 200 GB while the half-path is around 150 GB). This is only for the state database. After snap sync, the entire database will decrease by ~50 GB but still hover around 900 GB.
  • State database growth is significantly reduced—the slower the database grows, the less maintenance around the node is needed.
    We are still observing the exact numbers and applying some optimizations to make it as close as possible to "live pruning", but the database should grow about 10 to 20 times slower (to see the full effect, it may need 1 or 2 weeks—growth ratio will be dropping after that time).
  • Faster archive node sync. As half-path is not meant to optimize archive nodes, we observe that it is quicker than the previous implementation (8mln blocks processed about 30 to 40% faster, and the gap was only increasing—more tests around that are to be conducted).
  • Smaller archive node database. As stated above, the major goal of the half-path wasn't to make the archive node smaller, but what was observed was 2.4 TB vs 1.7 TB at the 8mln blocks checkpoint—and the gap was getting bigger. We are now checking the final numbers.

Making the migration to the half-path hassle-free

  • All newly synced nodes will use half-path as the default state design. If node operators want to use the previous approach, they can specify it with --Init.StateDbKeyScheme Hash.
  • All existing nodes that are synced with the old hash approach will remain on it.

Env variable equivalent of this flag is: NETHERMIND_INITCONFIG_STATEDBKEYSCHEME=HalfPath/Hash

Migration to half-path

  • Full resync. This is the simplest yet most effective way to migrate. As Nethermind syncs quickly back to the head, it may take just 1-2 hours to get back on track.
  • Full pruning. There is an option to migrate while staying online using the full pruning functionality. The downside of that approach is that pruning will take much longer to finish, and users will need to restart their nodes with --Init.StateDbKeyScheme HalfPath— without it, pruning will behave as before, so it will recreate the state with the previous database approach. To reduce slowdown, the user should increase the default full pruning memory budget to at least 8 GB: --Pruning.FullPruningMemoryBudgetMb 8000.

Upgrading from previous versions

  • From v1.25.4. The node will remain on the previous hash design. To migrate to half-path please see the migration instructions above. If the node operator does not want to migrate, it is completely fine to stay on the hash design, as it will still be fully supported.
  • From v1.26.0-exp. The node will remain on the half-path design. No resync is needed between v1.26.0 and its pre-release versions—all optimizations and bugfixes are automatically applied.

Learn more

More details about the half-path and other state redesigns which we are still exploring, can be found here. Please also refer to #6331, which contains all of the changes around the half-path and more in-depth details about specific performance metrics.

Snap serving

We're excited to share that Nethermind now supports snap serving, a capability previously unique to Geth. This is a big step for the Ethereum ecosystem, offering redundancy and easing Geth's considerable responsibility in maintaining network health.

This achievement doesn't diminish Geth's critical role but reinforces our shared goal of a resilient Ethereum. We see this as an opportunity to distribute the workload, ensuring the network's strength through diversity.

This feature was previously present but required a change to the database layout for efficient performance. Nodes running on the old hash approach will not enable snap serving by default. Snap serving's performance is too low on this design and may affect the node's overall performance. If a node operator wants to enable it on hash design, there is an option --Sync.SnapServingEnabled true, although we don't recommend it.

Important

During snap serving for other nodes, the overall performance of the node may be slightly worse. Please reach out to us on Discord with all observations so more optimizations can be discovered and applied. At the same time, it is advised to keep it enabled for the sake of network health.

Rootless and chiseled Docker image

This release introduces a new chiseled rootless Docker image for enhanced security.
These image tags have the -chiseled suffix and run the Nethermind process on behalf of the non-root app user with UID/GID of 64198.

Snappy dependency removal

Nethermind no longer needs the Snappy (libsnappy-dev) to be installed on Linux.

Deprecated options

--Sync.FastBlocks has been deprecated. It is advised to remove this option from your custom configs, environment variables, or flags passed to the client. See #6792 for more details.

Deprecated metrics

Multiple database and networking metrics are now deprecated and will be removed in the next release. These metrics follow the format:

  • nethermind_*_db_size
  • nethermind_*_db_reads
  • nethermind_*_db_writes
  • nethermind_*_disconnects
  • nethermind_*_received
  • nethermind_*_sent

They have been consolidated to labeled metrics:

  • nethermind_db_size{db=*}
  • nethermind_db_reads{db=*}
  • nethermind_db_writes{db=*}
  • nethermind_local_disconnects_total{reason=*}
  • nethermind_remote_disconnects_total{reason=*}
  • nethermind_incoming_p2p_messages{message=*}
  • nethermind_outgoing_p2p_messages{message=*}

Changelog

New features

Optimism

Performance

Bug fixes and stability

Other changes

New Contributors

Full Changelog: 1.25.4...1.26.0

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