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Behind the Node (Part 3): From Boxes to Blocks — Our Validator Joins Solana Mainnet

  • info4491671
  • Nov 10
  • 3 min read

Introduction


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If Part 1 was about chasing couriers and Part 2 was about hardware and configuration, Part 3 is the milestone we’ve been building toward: our validator is officially live on Solana mainnet.

We’re not voting yet — that will come soon — but our system is up, synced, monitored, and standing ready to secure the network as soon as delegation begins.


This is where the preparation turns into participation.

From Testnet to Mainnet

After weeks of testing and fine-tuning, our Milton Keynes setup has successfully moved from testnet to mainnet.The same bare-metal machine that spent its early life syncing and stress-testing now sits quietly inside its UK data centre rack — running full-time, staying in step with Solana’s mainnet cluster.

We’re still in the preparation phase — no voting or delegations yet — but the validator is fully operational, monitored, and mainnet-ready.

Built for Resilience

Under the hood, it’s the same powerhouse we introduced in Part 2:

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7975WX (32 cores, up to 5.3GHz)

  • Motherboard: ASUS PRO WS WRX90E-SAGE SE (ECC RDIMM, PCIe 5.0)

  • Memory: 512GB Kingston DDR5 ECC Registered

  • Storage: 9TB total of Samsung 990 PRO NVMe SSDs

  • Network: Intel X550-T2 10Gbps dual-port PCIe

  • Power: CORSAIR RMx 1000W (Gold-rated)

  • Cooling: Arctic Freezer 4U-M Rev. 2

It’s more than a validator server — it’s a statement.Bare-metal, locally hosted, and independently managed in a UK facility that (so far) has no other Solana validators.

That uniqueness matters for decentralisation: every location like this reduces clustering and improves the network’s resilience.

Software, Monitoring, and Mainnet Readiness

Our validator runs the Jito-Solana client (v3.0.6-jito) on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — optimised for performance, efficiency, and MEV-aware operations.The configuration mirrors what we perfected on testnet, including:

  • Firewall hardening and restricted SSH

  • Prometheus + Grafana monitoring dashboards

  • Automated alerting scripts for uptime and RPC responsiveness

  • Remote access via secure encrypted channels

We’re currently collecting baseline data — performance, latency, system load — to ensure everything is stable before we begin voting.

At the same time, we’re building and testing upgrade runbooks to stay ahead of new Solana and Jito version releases.Each runbook documents the exact upgrade process — from snapshot backups to ledger validation — ensuring zero surprises when the next version drops.

This phase is about precision and proof: building confidence in the node’s performance, not rushing to the next step.

Why It Matters

Mainnet readiness is more than a technical achievement — it’s proof of intent.

By running a fully independent validator on bare metal, in a unique UK data centre, we’re contributing to the geographic and jurisdictional diversity that keeps Solana decentralised.

Even before voting begins, every online validator helps maintain the cluster’s health, propagation, and monitoring diversity.It’s a small but essential piece of the puzzle — one rack in Milton Keynes, helping a global network stay robust.

What’s Next

We’re entering the final preparation phase:

  • Final vote account configuration and verification

  • Readiness checks for stake delegation

  • Extended stability and uptime monitoring

  • Continued testing of our upgrade runbooks to streamline future transitions

Once we’re confident in continuous performance, we’ll begin voting and open the validator for community delegation.

The “Stake With Us” option will appear soon — but only once we’ve earned the confidence (and data) to back it up.

Transparency first. Trust next.

The Bigger Picture

Decentralisation isn’t just about more validators — it’s about the right kind of validators.

By hosting independently, investing in serious hardware, and sharing our process openly, we’re proving that transparency and persistence are as important as uptime.

This project started as a logistical headache with missing boxes — and now, it’s part of a global network moving millions of transactions daily.

Not bad for a rack in Milton Keynes.

Follow Our Journey

We’re live on mainnet and working toward the next step: voting and delegation.Follow along as we keep building, reporting, and contributing to Solana’s decentralisation — one block (and one story) at a time.

Next up: Behind the Node (Part 4): From Readiness to Votes — Preparing for Delegation and Measuring Performance.

 
 
 

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