What Are the Hardware Requirements for Running an ETH Validator?
Running an Ethereum validator to begin staking ETH can be an incredibly exciting opportunity to start earning passive income. But if you’re looking to get started on your own, it can be hard to tell exactly what hardware you need in order to successfully run a validator. In this guide, we will be providing a reasonable explanation about the minimum hardware requirements needed to run an ETH validator.
Minimum CPU requirements for ETH staking
Trying to find out what the minimum hardware requirements for staking ETH is a confusing process for a plurality of reasons. The most important reason is that several of the requirements are actually determined by the clients themselves. When you are staking the current mainnet version of Ethereum, which is also known as Eth2 or ETH2.0, you will need both an execution client and a consensus client.
When it comes to execution clients, one of three original implementations of the Ethereum protocol is known as Go-Ethereum (Geth). Geth currently makes up 68.84% of clients running the Ethereum mainnet, according to Ethernodes.org.
Per Geth’s documentation, the way in which your node is configured can change the hardware requirements that are applicable to you. In addition, these requirements are constantly changing as a result of network updates.
Generally, however, Geth recommends that you use a CPU with at least four cores (or two hyperthreaded cores).
When it comes to the consensus client you use, one of the most popular options is Prysm. According to Prysm’s documentation, the prerequisites for running a validator include a CPU with at least four cores and a clock speed of at least 2.8 GHz.
Purchasing a quad-core CPU costs as low as $64 through online retailers such as Newegg, using the absolute cheapest available option. However, you may find that you require a more powerful or reliable CPU, which can be priced all the way up to $1,796 USD.
Minimum memory requirements for staking ETH
To meet the prerequisites listed in both Geth (the execution client) and Prysm (the consensus client)’s documentation, you will need a device with at least 16GB of RAM.
RAM is considerably cheap in the broader context of computer hardware. One 16 GB stick of 260-pin SODIMM (DDR4) RAM is priced from as low as $30 USD on Newegg all the way up to $882.
Minimum disk space requirements for an ETH validator
When it comes to the hard drive requirements for running an ETH validator, there are two considerations that you will have to make. The first is the type of drive that you are using. Generally, it is agreed that you will need a solid-state drive (SDD) rather than a hard disk drive (HDD) in order for your device to read and write fast enough to sync to the blockchain. In addition, even some SSD models reportedly have issues running an ETH node.
Next, the consideration that you will have to make is the amount of disk space that you are purchasing. This can be one of the heftiest requirements that people encounter. Ethereum.org states that you need ~1TB of storage just for the Mainnet execution chain data alone, but their estimate stops at May 2022. This storage requirement continues to grow at an estimate of more than 1GB a day, meaning we can approximate that the chain has grown by at least 304GB since this last estimate (as of the time of writing this article on March 8th, 2023).
In addition, Geth requires more than 650GB of disk space for a snap-synced full node and grows at about 14GB/week.
As a result, you will need an SSD with an absolute minimum of 2TB of storage, which could quickly become obsolete. On Newegg, the absolute cheapest price to meet this 2TB minimum requirement would mean spending $155 while other 2TB models are priced all the way up to $2,457 USD.
It is important to note that not all SSDs are created equal by any means; many of the cheaper options will be unable to provide enough reliability or read and write speeds to meet the needs of running a validator. An unofficial list of SSDs with reported issues has been published by users through GitHub, which is worth referring to before purchasing an SSD.
Minimum operating system requirements for staking ETH
Running a consensus client like Prysm requires a 64-bit operating system. Generally, 64-bit operating systems have become the standard and are easy to find and obtain. You can use either a 64-bit implementation of Linux, Mac OS X 10.14 or newer, or Windows 10 or newer.
Linux in particular is a popular choice, thanks to the fact that Linux distributions are readily provided for free online and can be easily installed on a variety of devices.
Considerations when setting up your hardware
There are many other considerations that you will need to make when setting up and purchasing your hardware. For instance, finding cheap hardware alternatives may inhibit you from running a validator, even if they broadly meet the technical requirements. You will also need to check that the components you purchase can be used together in the same device.
In addition, you may need to purchase a monitor for your node and equipment such as a keyboard and mouse in order to interact with it. In addition, the Prysm documentation recommends that you set up your validator on a new machine that has not ever been connected to the internet. This recommendation has been made to ensure that you can generate a mnemonic phrase and keypair securely, as anyone else having access to your keys will compromise the security of your funds.
Finally, it is important to acknowledge that the minimum requirements for running an Ethereum validator are constantly changing. In particular, the amount of storage space that running a validator requires is continuing to grow alongside new activity and updates in the network. Purchasing hardware that barely scrapes these minimum requirements can rapidly become outdated, meaning you may have to spend more money to replace your components in the very near future.
Using an AVADO hardware device
AVADO offers a range of pre-built hardware devices that are specifically designed to allow anyone to easily stake exciting projects like Ethereum and meet the needs of all types of users. Each product in AVADO’s extensive range more than exceeds the requirements listed in this article, allowing you to simplify the process by making a single purchase while having the peace of mind in knowing that your equipment will work as intended and will not need to be replaced anytime in the near future.
In addition, buying the hardware is only half the battle. If you are setting up a device on your own, you will also have to give significant consideration to maintenance and having to go through the arduous process of setting up a node from scratch.
The devices we offer, on the other hand, are plug-and-play. They allow you to start staking ETH2.0 and other projects immediately, without requiring any costly maintenance on your end or a difficult installation process. At the same time, using an AVADO device comes with all of the benefits and security of staking independently.
To find out more and get your hands on your own staking-ready device, visit our website today.
