Validator node
Consensus participation. 100,000 AETHEL minimum stake (design target). HSM-backed signing keys. Block production and vote extensions.
Node Operations
Run Aethelred infrastructure.
Hardware specs, node roles, and operator onboarding — for validators, workers, sentries, and archives.
Roles
Four node types.
Validators, workers, sentries, and archive nodes — each with distinct responsibilities and hardware requirements.
Worker node
TEE inference execution. H100/MI300 GPU class. Produces attestation quotes bound to each workload. Rewards through PoUW utility multipliers.
Sentry node
Public ingress boundary. No signing keys. 2+ recommended per validator. Isolates validators from direct network exposure.
Full / archive node
RPC surface and historical state. No consensus participation. Used for indexing, analytics, and developer tooling.
Requirements
Infrastructure baseline.
Minimum hardware specifications and recommended configurations for production-grade node operations.
| Component | Baseline | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 16 cores, SGX-capable | 32+ cores, Xeon Scalable |
| Memory | 64 GB ECC | 128 GB ECC |
| Storage | 2 TB NVMe SSD | 4 TB NVMe, RAID-1 |
| Network | 1 Gbps dedicated | 10 Gbps with redundancy |
| Key custody | Software wallet | HSM (FIPS 140-2 L3) |
| TEE profile | SGX DCAP or Nitro | SGX + SEV-SNP dual |
Next Steps
Architecture details and onboarding.
Review the full protocol architecture for consensus, verification, and security posture details. When ready, contact the operator onboarding team.
