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 with minimum 3000 IOPS. 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/i4i 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	Initial 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.

Storage Grows Over Time

Even with state sync, your node's storage usage will grow over time as new blocks are added and old state accumulates. A node starting at 500 GB can grow to 1 TB+ over months of operation. Plan for this growth when provisioning storage, or schedule periodic maintenance using state management strategies.

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.

IPv4 and IPv6 Support

AvalancheGo supports both IPv4 and IPv6:

IPv4: Fully supported and most common
IPv6: Fully supported - your node can operate exclusively on IPv6 or dual-stack
Dual-stack: You can run both IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously

If using IPv6, ensure your firewall and network configuration properly allow inbound IPv6 connections on port 9651.

Cloud Providers

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

Inbound: TCP port 9651 (IPv4 and/or IPv6)
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.

Monitoring Thresholds

Set up monitoring and alerts to catch resource issues before they impact your validator:

Resource	Warning Threshold	Critical Threshold	Action Required
Disk Usage	80%	90%	Run offline pruning or state sync
CPU Usage	70% sustained	90% sustained	Upgrade to higher-tier instance or optimize workload
Memory Usage	80%	90%	Upgrade RAM or investigate memory leaks
Network Bandwidth	80% of capacity	95% of capacity	Upgrade network tier or reduce other network traffic
Disk IOPS	80% of available	95% of available	Upgrade to higher IOPS storage

Disk usage is the most common issue for validators. Consider setting up automated alerts at 80% to give yourself time to plan maintenance before your node runs out of space.

Next Steps

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