System Requirements

Hardware, storage, and networking requirements for running Avalanche nodes on the Primary Network and Avalanche L1s.

Primary Network Validators

Running a Primary Network validator requires careful consideration of your stake weight. Validators with higher stake receive more traffic and must process more data, requiring better hardware.

You must use a local NVMe SSD attached directly to your hardware. Cloud block storage (AWS EBS, GCP Persistent Disk, Azure Managed Disks) introduces latency that causes poor performance, missed blocks, and potential benching. If running in the cloud, use instance types with local NVMe storage (e.g., AWS i3/i4 instances, GCP N2 with local SSD).

State Sync Recommended

New validators should use state sync to bootstrap. While full sync from genesis is still possible, state sync is significantly faster—downloading only the active state (~500 GB) rather than replaying all historical blocks.

Storage Type	Size	Description
Active State	~500 GB	Current state required to validate. Downloaded via state sync.
Full Archive	~3 TB+	Complete historical state. Only needed for archive nodes or block explorers.

Hardware Requirements

Resource requirements scale with your stake weight. Higher stake means more validator duties and network traffic.

Low Stake Validators

For validators with modest stake delegations who want reliable operation without over-provisioning.

Component	Requirement
CPU	4 cores / 8 threads (e.g., AMD Ryzen 5, Intel i5)
RAM	16 GB
Storage	1 TB NVMe SSD (local, not network-attached)
Network	100 Mbps symmetric, stable connection
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or macOS ≥ 12

High Stake Validators

For validators with significant stake who will handle proportionally more network traffic and validation duties.

Component	Requirement
CPU	8+ cores / 16 threads (e.g., AMD Ryzen 7/9, Intel i7/i9)
RAM	32 GB
Storage	2 TB NVMe SSD (local, not network-attached)
Network	1 Gbps symmetric, low-latency connection
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or macOS ≥ 12

If you're unsure which tier applies to you: start with low-stake specs and monitor performance. If you see high CPU usage, memory pressure, or network saturation, upgrade accordingly.

Avalanche L1 Validators

L1 validators run your own blockchain with custom parameters. Hardware requirements depend on your chain's transaction throughput and state size.

Low Throughput

Suitable for testnets, development chains, or production L1s with minimal traffic (< 10 TPS average).

Component	Requirement
CPU	2 cores
RAM	4 GB
Storage	100 GB SSD
Network	25 Mbps
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or macOS ≥ 12

Medium Throughput

For production L1s with moderate activity (10–100 TPS average), gaming chains, or DeFi applications.

Component	Requirement
CPU	4 cores
RAM	8 GB
Storage	500 GB SSD
Network	100 Mbps
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or macOS ≥ 12

High Throughput

For high-performance L1s with heavy transaction volume (100+ TPS), large state, or complex smart contracts.

Component	Requirement
CPU	8+ cores
RAM	16 GB+
Storage	1 TB+ NVMe SSD
Network	1 Gbps
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or macOS ≥ 12

L1 validators sync the P-Chain to track validator sets and cross-chain messages. This adds minimal overhead to the requirements above.

Networking

AvalancheGo requires inbound connections on port 9651. Before installation, ensure your networking environment is properly configured.

Cloud Providers

Cloud instances have static IPs by default. Ensure your security group or firewall allows:

Inbound: TCP port 9651
Outbound: All traffic

Home Connections

Residential connections typically have dynamic IPs. You'll need to:

Configure port forwarding for port 9651 on your router
Consider a dynamic DNS service if your IP changes frequently

A fully connected Avalanche node maintains thousands of live TCP connections. Under-powered home routers may struggle with this load, causing lag on other devices or node synchronization issues.

Next Steps

Learn about Active State vs Archive State to understand storage requirements
Set up node monitoring to track resource usage