Hardware Requirements
Realm validators require GPU hardware for signature verification. Here are the detailed specifications for running a production validator.
GPU Requirements
GPU is required for Dilithium-3 signature verification. The validator uses CUDA for batch verification at 1.26M signatures/second.
| Tier | GPU | VRAM | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | RTX 3080 | 10GB | ~800K sigs/sec |
| Recommended | RTX 4090 | 24GB | ~1.26M sigs/sec |
| Enterprise | A100 / H100 | 40-80GB | ~2M+ sigs/sec |
NVIDIA Only
Currently only NVIDIA GPUs with CUDA support are supported. AMD ROCm support is planned for future releases.
CPU Requirements
CPU handles consensus, networking, and state management. Modern multi-core processors are recommended.
| Tier | Specification |
|---|---|
| Minimum | 8 cores @ 3.0GHz (AMD Ryzen 7 / Intel i7) |
| Recommended | 16 cores @ 3.5GHz (AMD Ryzen 9 / Intel i9) |
| Enterprise | 32+ cores (AMD EPYC / Intel Xeon) |
Memory
RAM is used for state caching, orderbook storage, and transaction pools.
| Tier | RAM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 32GB DDR4 | May require swap for peak loads |
| Recommended | 64GB DDR5 | Comfortable headroom |
| Enterprise | 128GB+ DDR5 | For high-traffic periods |
Storage
NVMe SSD is required for state database and block storage. Chain data grows approximately 50GB/month.
| Tier | Storage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1TB NVMe | ~20 months of data |
| Recommended | 2TB NVMe | ~40 months + headroom |
| Enterprise | 4TB+ NVMe RAID | Archival nodes |
IOPS Matter
Prefer high-IOPS NVMe drives (500K+ random read). Samsung 990 Pro, WD Black SN850X, or enterprise drives recommended.
Network
Low latency and high bandwidth are critical for consensus participation.
| Tier | Bandwidth | Latency |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1 Gbps | <50ms to peers |
| Recommended | 10 Gbps | <20ms to peers |
Network requirements:
- Static IP address or reliable dynamic DNS
- Ports 9090 (gRPC) and 9091 (P2P) open
- DDoS protection recommended
Operating System
- Recommended: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Arch Linux
- Also supported: Debian 12, Fedora 39+
- Not supported: Windows, macOS (server deployment)
Cloud Providers
Recommended instance types:
| Provider | Instance | Cost (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | g5.4xlarge (A10G GPU) | ~$1,200/month |
| GCP | a2-highgpu-1g (A100 GPU) | ~$1,500/month |
| Hetzner | GEX44 (RTX 4000) | ~$300/month |
Next Steps
- Setup Guide — Install and configure
- Staking — Stake RLM to become a validator