Pipe Network Launches SolanaCDN: A Free, Open-Source Solana Validator Client with Built-in Acceleration
- Core Insight: Pipe Network has launched the free and open-source SolanaCDN, aiming to provide a more equitable and faster block shard propagation for Solana validators worldwide by integrating a CDN acceleration layer, thereby enhancing the overall network performance and degree of decentralization.
- Key Elements:
- SolanaCDN is built as a fork of Anza's Agave client, leveraging Pipe's network of over 35,000 PoP nodes to offer validators a second, fast transmission path independent of the native gossip protocol.
- Its performance is significant, with shard propagation being 3.8 times faster than the standard Turbine protocol, and cross-region median latency around 78 milliseconds, far below the baseline of 300 ms.
- This solution aims to address performance inequity among validators caused by geographical differences, enabling all validators to participate and earn rewards more fairly, thereby improving the network's overall finalization speed and reducing forks.
- The client and CDN layer are completely free, offered as public infrastructure, and the CDN layer is designed as optional and non-consensus-participating, meaning validator operations remain unaffected even if it becomes unavailable.
- SolanaCDN is now available, with its source code published on GitHub and ready to run on the Solana Mainnet Beta.
Pipe Network announced today the launch of SolanaCDN, a free, open-source Solana validator client integrated with a CDN acceleration layer. SolanaCDN is built as a fork of Anza's Agave client and provides every Solana validator with faster shred propagation access through Pipe's global network of over 35,000 Points of Presence (PoP) nodes.
Both the client and the CDN layer are completely free. Pipe Network is offering SolanaCDN as public infrastructure for the Solana ecosystem.
The Problem SolanaCDN Solves
Validator performance on Solana is heavily influenced by network geography. Validators closer to block producers receive shreds earlier, vote earlier, and thus earn more rewards. Validators in regions with poorer network connectivity, regardless of their hardware capabilities, face slower propagation, missed votes, and reduced earnings from leader slots.
SolanaCDN addresses this by providing validators with a faster, secondary path for shred transmission, independent of the native gossip protocol. Shred and vote packets are routed through Pipe's global mesh network, which continuously measures every network path and routes traffic in real-time along the fastest available path.
The native gossip protocol continues to operate underneath. SolanaCDN adds a parallel fast lane on top of it.
Performance
SolanaCDN propagates shreds 3.8x faster than the standard Turbine block propagation protocol, with a cross-region P50 (median) latency of approximately 78 milliseconds, compared to a baseline of around 300 milliseconds for standard gossip.
The client also includes built-in optimizations developed by Pipe that are usable even before enabling the CDN layer: leader-optimized shred merging (Fast Shreds), snapshot downloads from the Pipe global network, and a recovery progress display with a live estimated time to completion while a validator is catching up to network state.
Public Infrastructure
Faster propagation is a network effect. Every validator running SolanaCDN improves global shred delivery, which translates to faster block finality, fewer forks, and fewer missed slots for the entire Solana network.
"Validator performance shouldn't be determined by geography," said David Rhodus, CEO of Pipe Network. "SolanaCDN gives every validator access to the same fast infrastructure. The more validators that run it, the faster the entire Solana network becomes."
Technical Design
SolanaCDN is a fully compatible Agave fork. Validators can install it as a direct drop-in replacement for their existing client. The CDN layer is optional, enabled by a config flag, and is designed to be non-participatory in consensus. It does not modify block production, consensus logic, leader scheduling, or voting rules. All CDN operations are non-blocking and fail-safe. If the CDN layer is unavailable, the validator continues to operate normally.
Built-in Prometheus metrics and comparative data on transfer speeds between the CDN and gossip protocols give operators comprehensive visibility into performance changes in their environment.
Availability
SolanaCDN is available now. The source code is published on GitHub, and the client is ready to run on Solana Mainnet Beta.
Website: https://solanacdn.com
GitHub: https://github.com/pipenetwork/agave-solana
About Pipe Network
Pipe Network is a global edge infrastructure company built on Solana. The network operates over 35,000 hyper-local PoP nodes worldwide, providing distributed storage with fast reads and real-time data transfer capabilities. Pipe's overlay network tracks latency, packet loss, and jitter for every path in real-time and routes traffic along the fastest path.
