Swarm officially answered questions about node hardware and reward mechanisms that the community cares about.
Original title: “Swarm officially discloses a large amount of information to explain in detail the operation requirements and token mechanism of mainnet nodes”
Finishing: Blue Shell Cloud Storage
The Swarm mainnet has been launched, but many people still have a little understanding of this project, such as what are the hardware requirements to run the mainnet, how much hard disk space is needed, how to upgrade the testnet to the mainnet, what is the so-called Bonding Curve, and what is the storage and reward mechanism ? Operation, whether the node needs to pledge tokens, etc. This article may answer your questions.
What are the hardware requirements for Swarm mainnet nodes?
Official answer: For the specific hardware requirements, we have not yet conducted a formal test, but we can introduce the hardware parameters of our own running nodes.
Bootnodes have higher requirements, after all, they need higher performance.
Ordinary users do not run startup nodes, so ordinary storage nodes only need about 3GB of memory and one or two CPUs (depending on how efficient users want their nodes to run). This is also our own operation The hardware parameters used by the node, of course, are that the user needs enough storage space. In addition, if users use SSD hard drives, the performance will be better.
How much hard disk space does the user need?
Official answer: The size of the hard disk space is very important. The storage of the Bee node includes two systems, namely ” reserve ” and ” cache “.
“Reserve” can hold 2 to the 23rd power of chunks (chunk: the standard data storage unit in Swarm), which is about 34GB .
The size of “cache” can be customized by the user, but its default size is 4GB .
In addition, a portion of storage space is needed to store and run Bee nodes, about 5GB .
Therefore, the specific hard disk space required is about 34GB+4GB+5GB+a small part of free space = about 55GB .
How to upgrade from testnet to mainnet?
Q: How does the test network upgrade to the main network? Is there an upgrade path? Or do users need to start from scratch? What about the user’s data? What about the deployed Docker-compose?
Official answer: In short, we will release a brand new network.
For testnet users, we will prepare an upgrade path from v0.6 to 1.0-rc version. However, if the user wants to run a node connected to the main network and wants to interact with the real BZZ token, then the user is connected to a brand new network.
In fact, new embedded mechanisms such as postage stamps on the mainnet cannot be directly upgraded on the testnet, so the mainnet is a brand new network.
If the user has some data that he wants to keep on the testnet, we can only recommend that the user download the data and then upload it on the mainnet.
As for the nodes deployed by docker-compose, just like normal node upgrades, users can continue to run nodes on the test network, or switch to the main network, but as mentioned above, the main network is a brand new network, so users need Upload the stored data to the main network again.
Q: Some users currently use SSD to run Swarm nodes in the raspberry pi system. Can I continue to use this system to run Swarm nodes when the mainnet is online? Will anything change?
A: We encourage users to run Bee nodes through the built-in incentive mechanism of Swarm. As a development team, we have never used the raspberry pi system to run the Swarm node, so if the user continues to use the system after the mainnet goes online and finds that the Swarm node can continue to run normally, then the answer is “Yes”. We are the development team of Swarm. We are experts in the development field, but we mainly rely on users in terms of node operation. At that time, users can feedback their node operation results to us through relevant channels on the official Discord to help us continue to improve the development of Swarm.
What is Bonding Curve? Will there be additional issuance of BZZ?
Official answer: I’m sorry that the current issue of whether to issue additional BZZ is still unable to explain in detail. We will explain the issue separately on other occasions after the mainnet is launched.
Regarding the Bonding Curve contract , it is equivalent to a market where BZZ tokens can be bought and sold. It can bridge the time difference between buyers and sellers. Users can deposit BZZ tokens and get collateral, or vice versa. Enter the collateral in exchange for BZZ tokens, even if there is no counterparty at the time.
So it acts as a tool to ensure liquidity BZZ token, if you want to get BZZ token, as long as through Bonding Curve, you can always get BZZ tokens, or if the user is running Swarm node, And if you want to sell some of your BZZ, you can do it through Bonding Curve at any time. In this way, users do not need an actual counterparty to complete their transactions.
However, assuming that the counterparty does exist, trading on Bonding Curve is no different from trading on other trading venues. The user’s UI interface and experience are similar to other swaps.
Q: In extreme cases, suppose all users sell BZZ tokens on Bonding Curve. What will happen?
A: In that case, the user will obtain all the collateral, and there is no BZZ token in circulation, because in that extreme case, all BZZ is used to replace the collateral.
Q: On the other hand, if a large number of users buy BZZ through Bonding Curve, are there any restrictions?
A: This question can be answered in two ways. On the one hand, this behavior will cause the price of BZZ to rise rapidly, so before other restrictions come into play, users will already be unable to buy BZZ because they cannot pay the extremely high price of BZZ. However, on the other hand, Bonding Curve does have restrictions embedded in smart contracts to avoid excessive trading activities, but the possibility of excessive trading activities that reach this limit is very small, and the price of BZZ tokens has risen to about 500 million Dai In the case of, users will only touch this limit, and we don’t think this will happen.
Q: What is the relationship between token price and token supply in Bonding Curve?
A: The function model used by Bonding Curve is monotonically increasing, which means that if a user buys BZZ tokens through Bonding Curve, but no one sells BZZ tokens, then the price of BZZ tokens will increase rapidly, and vice versa. Users sell BZZ tokens through Bonding Curve, but no one buys BZZ tokens, then the price of BZZ tokens will drop rapidly. However, if there is a counterparty, even if the buying and selling in the transaction do not happen at the same time, as long as the buying and selling behavior reaches a certain balance, the price of BZZ tokens will be relatively stable. In addition, Bonding Curve will also play a certain role of price inertia, which means that because there are a large amount of collateral in Bonding Curve, a large number of transactions are required to change the price of BZZ. This is different from many other newly released tokens. Since other newly released tokens lack liquidity at the beginning, their prices tend to fluctuate greatly. We hope that Bonding Curve can help prevent this from happening, so that BZZ can be used on behalf of BZZ. The price of the currency truly reflects the relationship between supply and demand in the market.
Q: Are there other projects that have successfully used Bonding Curve?
A: Yes, we have borrowed from Bancor. In fact, the Bonding Curve we use is very similar to Bancor’s. Due to various reasons, we have changed some of the parameters. Although Bonding Curve is an emerging technology, we are not without lessons learned. Bonding Curve increases the stability of the Sawrm token system, thereby making Swarm’s entire economic system healthier. Just like DeFi has brought many innovations, we believe that more and more projects will use similar mechanisms to improve them. Their economic system.
Why does Swarm use 16 decimal places?
Q: When all ERC-20 tokens use 18 decimal places, why does Swarm use 16 decimal places? Is it for maverick?
Official answer: In fact, there are some technical reasons that led us to finally adopt 16 decimal places. These reasons are also related to Bonding Curve. We want to avoid the return of some token prices when most BZZ tokens are sold to Bonding Curve. Zero situation occurs. This is entirely a technical decision, and I hope this will not make some users feel inconvenienced. Of course, if a user sees BZZ with 18 decimal places on the market, then it must be a fake token used for fraud.
Expansion solution
Q: How to solve the high gas cost on Ethereum? Does the team have planned off-chain or Layer 2 solutions?
Official answer: We have investigated and studied some alternatives and Layer2 solutions. At present, we basically decided to use the xDai sidechain solution , which has the same smart contract mechanism as Ethereum , the same transaction processing method, and the compatibility of each other. This kind of API means that the conversion between the main chain and the side chain is very easy.
xDai has been running successfully for some time, it has performed well, and many projects have used xDai, so the community also has a sense of trust in it. It is cheaper and faster than the Ethereum mainnet, so it can handle the small amount of Swarm demand. transaction.
However, it is not a long-term solution. It is currently only used to solve urgent needs , because the expansion of Ethereum cannot keep up with the current development speed of various projects. We hope that Ethereum can find a better expansion solution as soon as possible. Maybe it is Ethereum. 2. Maybe it’s Rollup. I don’t know the specific answer yet, but once this expansion plan goes online, Swarm can quickly adapt to it.
xDai is a fully bridged side chain, which means that BZZ can be safely converted back and forth between the main network and the side chain. Although it is not the ultimate solution for expansion, it is sufficient for the moment to complete its mission.
Swarm’s storage and reward mechanism
The official answer: for each node is the size of the Bee “reserve (reserve)” is fixed, and “cache (cache),” you can adjust the size, but also its size and data capacity of the entire network of the Swarm, when the cache After reaching a certain size, it does not mean that the larger the cache, the more rewards . Therefore, it can also be said that from the perspective of revenue, there is no advantage in arranging a particularly large capacity on a node.
In addition, there is a function called ” pinning ” in Swarm, which can pin specific data to the user’s local node. These pinned data will become part of the user’s storage and cannot be deleted by the Swarm network. If the pinned content is not in the “reserve”, additional storage space is needed to store them. In other words, if the user wants to pin the content with an expired postage stamp, they need to prepare additional The storage space is responsible for storing the content with expired postmarks.
Generally speaking, “reserve” is a necessary part of maintaining the Swarm network, and “cache” exists to speed up data transmission and reduce expenditures, so even if there is no node for “cache” “, as long as the “reserve” still exists, the Swarm network can be established.
Overlay network without mining
Q: What is a non-minable overlay? How does it work?
Official answer: Swarm nodes randomly select their overlay address (overlay address)-define the address of the user’s storage block, we always assume that the overlay address is evenly distributed in the Swarm network, but in fact, because the overlay address was completely dependent on The user’s Ethereum address. In the so-called “mining” process, the user’s coverage address will fall in a certain “neighborhoood” after many attempts, which may cause some The occurrence of undesirable situations, for example, the network in a certain area has a higher capacity than the network in another area, or for example, some users only repeatedly mine in a certain “neighborhood”, causing the “neighborhood” to be removed from the network. Completely isolated, so we adopted a non-minable overlay network . In order to realize this kind of overlay network, we have added another element to define a user’s coverage address. If the user wants to select a “neighborhood”, they need to conduct transactions on the Dai side chain, which means that it costs real money. Under this mechanism, node operators can still choose “neighborhood”, but they must pay. In fact, in addition to the different coverage addresses, most node operators will not feel any changes. This is more of a change in a small part of the internal mechanism.
Do I need to pledge BZZ to run a node?
Official answer: No, currently users do not need to pledge BZZ to run Bee nodes. Users can run Bee nodes under 0BZZ, and then it is possible to win rewards by serving the network. It is completely possible to join the Swarm network with 0BZZ. The user can become a node operator without deploying a chequebook. However, if the user wants to deploy a chequebook, cash out the check or purchase a postmark, etc. , Then users need xDai and BZZ. Of course, there is no need to pledge in the current version, which does not mean that there is absolutely no need to pledge in the future. Regarding the next incentive mechanism of Swarm, there will be multiple iterations in the future. Please continue to pay attention.
Why not advocate running cloud nodes
Q: Although it is possible to run Bee nodes in the cloud such as AWS, but from an ideological point of view, why is Swarm’s node not suitable for running in the cloud?
Official answer: Basically, Swarm encourages users to control their own nodes. When users entrust the nodes to the cloud, they give up their control to a certain extent and hand them over to a third party in the cloud. It can run perfectly in the cloud, but it is not good for decentralization. The Swarm Foundation supports and encourages users to run their own nodes.
