Yes is still Alpha…
It is with great pleasure that we announce the world’s first all-in-one EVM-node on the efficient software frontier, Erigon 3:
- It is both Execution Layer and Consensus Layer.
- It is optimized to be the best archive node, the best full node and the best pruned node.
- It has a data structure that allows ultra-fast RPC calls
- It is designed to reach and exceed 1Ggas/sec in block production
Erigon 3 completes a long phase of research and development and evolution that began with the TurboGeth project, later renamed Erigon (1.xx series), Erigon 2 (2.xx series) and now Erigon 3.xx series. From day one, we were clear in our minds what our goal was: to release the best EVM client in the world, in every possible use case.
We think we have succeeded.
But let us go in order:
Erigon 3 is the world’s first and only All-in-One EVM-node.
Those familiar with the world of Erigon know that for over a year now, since the 2.xx series, we have consistently integrated execution and consensus layer into what we have called #TheRealMerge, however, the 2.xx series consensus module is not able to function as a validator. Starting with the 3.xx series, Erigon can produce blocks and run simultaneously, connected to the Consensus Layer network and the Execution Layer network. Erigon 3, therefore, in addition to functioning as an Execution Layer node, is also a Consensus Layer node, only it does it better, efficiently and with a degree of consistency and integration that is not possible for any other separate solution.
Caplin (the name we have given to our Consensus module) has inherited the same advanced storage and data compression/decompression techniques as Erigon, and in addition, is able to function as a Full Archive Consensus node for both Beacon Chain history and blobs.
That is why the Erigon 3.xx series is the world’s first and only All-In-One EVM-node.
Erigon 3 is the best full archive node, full node and pruned node in the world.
Ever since the first TurboGeth (later Erigon 1.xx series), we have made the decision to devote our efforts to the research of the data model for EVM nodes on the efficient software frontier, i.e. a coherent concert between data structure, database, cold storage, and compression and decompression algorithms highly optimized to work at its best and without compromise under all possible conditions of use of an EVM client.
We succeeded.
Erigon 3.xx series can be configured to run as the world’s most compact and fastest full archive node or full node, or even more compact and optimized, e.g. tailor-made for validation and block production needs.
Erigon 3 Has a data structure that allows ultra-fast RPC calls
The 3.xx series introduces what we call granularity of historical state data at the level of the single transaction, meaning that in order to extract the data of a specific transaction from the node and serve it through our RPC, it is no longer necessary to traverse the block, the data is available immediately and this implies lightning speed for the RPC Daemon.
Erigon 3 is designed to reach and exceed 1Ggas/sec in block production
We knew from the very beginning how important an execution speed in the order of Ggas/sec would be today, which is why we have invested time, money and effort over all these years in the Erigon++ project that are a set of superfast components written in C++ which today can be activated as an experimental project from the command line on Erigon 2. Anyway, 3.xx series architecture is intrinsically extremely faster than its predecessor, even in the pure Golang version.
Alpha phase
Erigon 3 is today in the alpha phase, which for us means the search for the correct functioning of the software, we consider alpha 1 to be ‘correct enough’ to be released to the public in the coming weeks we will release further alpha versions to fix bugs and reach a stage where we can concentrate on optimisation and performance. The performance of Erigon 3 during the alpha phase is deliberately reduced because it is subject to a number of redundant controls that will be removed in the beta phase.
Beta Phase
In the Beta phase, the team’s work will be directed towards profiling and optimisation of the code, in order to achieve higher execution speed, initial synchronization, data extraction and compactness of the disk footprint. We want to release our Erigon 3 Beta 1 before the next hard fork (Pectra).
Unique superior DB
Erigon 3.xx series is based on a specific internally developed DB that we have called QSM db. QSM uses the LSM tiering approach with a btree as its initial tier to provide a quasi dynamic structure which can be deterministically distributed across a network of cooperating nodes. It would take more than one post to describe its exceptional properties, but for now, suffice it to say that QSM has been specifically designed for the Erigon data model in every detail.
Quality Assurance
Over the last year, we have established state-of-the-art internal testing practices and to this end have created a team dedicated to the Quality Assurance of the code and the development of specific tools for Node Diagnostics. We want to assure our users that we are fully aware of the importance of releasing stable and reliable versions of Erigon 3, trying to quickly solve critical problems for users and to minimise the introduction of new bugs as much as possible.
Again, this was a deliberate but conscious choice: we knew that Erigon’s technology roadmap would not be complete until Erigon 3, and we felt that we had to prioritise the achievement of this primary outcome, which is fundamental to achieving excellent performance on all configurations (archive, full, pruned, minimal).
At the end of the Beta phase of Erigon 3, we will focus on stabilising all functionalities and solving the problems reported by users, and we will fully dedicate ourselves to cleaning up the code and building a testing system with the highest coverage in our industry.
What to expect from Erigon 3.0.0-alpha 1
Erigon 3.0.0-alpha 1 is indeed an alpha, it works well enough to be released to the public, but it still has bugs, some known and others will certainly come up from our users.
It is still very slow compared to how it could work because it incorporates a number of additional controls necessary for this stage of development.
There will be at least a second alpha version, i.e. dedicated to the correctness of the code before the Erigon team devotes itself to the code optimisation phase (Beta phase)
Here is the link to download the source code: https://github.com/erigontech/erigon/releases/tag/v3.0.0-alpha1
Please read the release notes before installing and testing Erigon 3.0.0 – alpha 1.
