Running a blockchain node

If the RPC API of a node is enabled, it allows external services to send queries to the node and/or to subscribe to specific events that are happening in the network. For example, these external services could be other scripts in JS, a Python daemon, a tool in Rust, etc. Depending on the node configuration, an RPC node can accept different communication protocols such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), WebSocket (WS), and Inter-Process Communication (IPC).

For more information, see the following:

In the Klayr PoS, a certain set of validators is selected by the network to add new blocks to the blockchain. To participate in the block generation process, a validator needs to set up a node and configure it to enable block generation. These nodes are called validator nodes.

In the Klayr Mainnet, exactly 53 validators exist in the network for each block generation round. Validator nodes are the only nodes that can propose new blocks to the blockchain. During a block generation round, every validator node has the opportunity to generate at least one block.

Validator nodes fulfill a very important role in the network, and therefore they require certain additional configurations regarding enabling block generation and higher security measures, as compared to regular nodes. Furthermore, they are equal to any non-validator node in the network and follow the same installation process.

Nodes from different chains can interact with one another in the Klayr ecosystem, and this interaction is carried out via relayer nodes. Any chain such as a mainchain or a sidechain can have relayer node(s). Relayer nodes are nodes of a blockchain that are configured to relay Cross-Chain Updates (CCUs) and Cross-Chain Messages (CCMs) to another blockchain^[1]. A sidechain always has to communicate with other blockchains via the mainchain.

Consider a sidechain S1 with 20 nodes, whereby one of these nodes has been configured to act as a relayer node. The job of this relayer node is to collect CCUs & CCMs from the other nodes of S1 and subsequently pass them on to the receiving mainchain. If a sidechain S1 wants to communicate with another sidechain S2, it will be required to have a relayer set up on S1, S2, and on the mainchain. The CCUs will then take the route of S1 → Mainchain → S2 and vice versa.

To become a relayer node, Klayr provides an easy-to-use plugin called the Chain Connector. The chain connector plugin allows a node to act as a relayer of CCUs and CCMs. A relayer node can be configured for both mainchain and sidechains. Once configured, a relayer node can directly connect with the RPC nodes of the receiving chains.

Klayr Service is a data aggregation service that connects to a particular RPC node and aggregates the blockchain data, to provide enriched API endpoints for other applications and services that rely on data from the blockchain.