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Hosting Options

Infrastructure requirements and hosting options for Convex peers.

Hardware Requirements​

Minimum Specifications​

Suitable for: Testnet participation, development

  • CPU: 4 cores (2.5+ GHz)
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Storage: 100 GB SSD
  • Network: 100 Mbps symmetric
  • Uptime: 95%+

Suitable for: Production (Protonet), high stake

  • CPU: 8+ cores (3.0+ GHz)
  • RAM: 16+ GB
  • Storage: 500+ GB NVMe SSD
  • Network: 1 Gbps symmetric
  • Uptime: 99.9%+

Enterprise Specifications​

Suitable for: Major validators, high availability

  • CPU: 16+ cores (3.5+ GHz)
  • RAM: 32+ GB
  • Storage: 1+ TB NVMe SSD (RAID 10)
  • Network: 10 Gbps symmetric
  • Uptime: 99.99%+
  • Redundancy: Hot standby peer

Storage Considerations​

Storage Requirements​

Growth Rate:

  • State: ~10 GB/year (estimated)
  • Logs: ~1 GB/month
  • Backups: 2-3x current state

Performance:

  • IOPS: 10,000+ recommended
  • Latency: <1ms for state access
  • Type: NVMe SSD strongly recommended

Storage Configuration​

# Recommended filesystem layout
/opt/convex/
├── data/          # 500 GB+ (state data)
├── logs/          # 50 GB (application logs)
└── backups/       # 1 TB (backups)

Network Requirements​

Bandwidth​

Minimum:

  • Download: 100 Mbps
  • Upload: 100 Mbps
  • Monthly: ~500 GB

Recommended:

  • Download: 1 Gbps
  • Upload: 1 Gbps
  • Monthly: ~2 TB

Ports​

Required:

  • 18888 - Peer protocol (TCP, inbound/outbound)
  • 8080 - REST API (TCP, optional public)

Firewall Rules:

# Ubuntu/Debian with UFW
sudo ufw allow 18888/tcp   # Peer protocol
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp    # REST API (optional)
sudo ufw enable

IP Address​

Requirements:

  • Static IP address (required)
  • IPv4 (required)
  • IPv6 (recommended)
  • Reverse DNS configured (recommended)

Cloud Providers​

AWS (Amazon Web Services)​

Recommended Instance: c5.2xlarge or higher

Configuration:

Type: c5.2xlarge
CPU: 8 vCPUs
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 500 GB EBS (gp3, 10,000 IOPS)
Network: Up to 10 Gbps
Cost: ~$300/month

Setup:

  1. Launch EC2 instance (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS)
  2. Attach EBS volume for data
  3. Configure Security Group (ports 18888, 8080)
  4. Allocate Elastic IP
  5. Follow Manual Deployment guide

Considerations:

  • Mature platform, extensive docs
  • Good global availability
  • ⚠️ Higher cost than alternatives
  • ⚠️ Complex pricing model

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)​

Recommended Instance: n2-standard-8 or higher

Configuration:

Type: n2-standard-8
CPU: 8 vCPUs
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 500 GB SSD persistent disk
Network: 16 Gbps
Cost: ~$350/month

Setup:

  1. Create Compute Engine instance
  2. Attach persistent SSD
  3. Configure VPC firewall rules
  4. Reserve static IP
  5. Follow Manual Deployment guide

Considerations:

  • Competitive pricing
  • Strong network performance
  • Good regional coverage

Microsoft Azure​

Recommended Instance: Standard_D8s_v5

Configuration:

Type: Standard_D8s_v5
CPU: 8 vCPUs
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 512 GB Premium SSD
Network: 12.5 Gbps
Cost: ~$400/month

Setup:

  1. Create Virtual Machine (Ubuntu)
  2. Attach Premium SSD
  3. Configure Network Security Group
  4. Reserve public IP
  5. Follow deployment guide

Considerations:

  • Enterprise integration
  • Hybrid cloud options
  • ⚠️ Higher cost

DigitalOcean​

Recommended Droplet: CPU-Optimized 8GB

Configuration:

Type: CPU-Optimized
CPU: 8 vCPUs
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 100 GB SSD
Network: 8 TB transfer
Cost: ~$240/month

Setup:

  1. Create Droplet (Ubuntu 22.04)
  2. Attach Block Storage volume
  3. Configure firewall
  4. Reserve IP address
  5. Follow deployment guide

Considerations:

  • Simple pricing
  • Easy to use
  • Good value
  • ⚠️ Limited regions

Hetzner​

Recommended Server: CPX41 (Cloud) or AX52 (Dedicated)

Cloud Configuration:

Type: CPX41
CPU: 8 vCPUs
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 240 GB NVMe
Network: 20 TB traffic
Cost: ~$50/month

Considerations:

  • Excellent value
  • Good performance
  • ⚠️ Limited to Europe
  • ⚠️ Strict abuse policies

OVH Cloud​

Recommended: c2-15 or dedicated server

Configuration:

Type: c2-15
CPU: 8 vCores
RAM: 15 GB
Storage: 200 GB NVMe
Network: 1 Gbps
Cost: ~$70/month

Considerations:

  • Competitive pricing
  • Good European presence
  • ⚠️ Complex interface

Dedicated Servers​

When to Use Dedicated​

Advantages:

  • Better performance per dollar
  • Predictable costs
  • No noisy neighbors
  • Full hardware control

Use dedicated when:

  • Running multiple peers
  • High stake value
  • Maximum performance needed
  • Cost optimisation important

Providers​

Hetzner Dedicated:

  • Excellent value
  • Fast provisioning
  • European locations
  • ~$50-200/month

OVH Dedicated:

  • Competitive pricing
  • Global locations
  • Good hardware options
  • ~$60-300/month

Leaseweb:

  • Flexible configurations
  • Global presence
  • Custom hardware
  • ~$100-500/month

Colocation​

When to Consider​

Suitable for:

  • Multiple peers
  • Maximum control
  • Cost optimisation at scale
  • Custom hardware requirements

Requirements:

  • Own hardware
  • Colocation facility
  • Remote hands service
  • Network connectivity

Cost Considerations:

  • Hardware: $2,000-10,000 upfront
  • Rack space: $100-500/month per U
  • Power: $50-200/month
  • Network: $100-1,000/month

Geographic Distribution​

Location Selection​

Consider:

  • Network latency to other peers
  • Legal jurisdiction
  • Data sovereignty requirements
  • Cost and availability

Recommended Regions:

  • North America (East Coast, West Coast)
  • Europe (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam)
  • Asia Pacific (Singapore, Tokyo)

Multi-Region Deployment​

For high availability:

  1. Primary peer in main region
  2. Hot standby in different region
  3. Automated failover
  4. Shared stake control

Kubernetes Deployment​

When to Use K8s​

Suitable for:

  • Running multiple peers
  • Existing K8s infrastructure
  • Advanced orchestration needs
  • Team familiar with K8s

Basic Deployment:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: convex-peer
spec:
  serviceName: convex-peer
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: convex-peer
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: convex-peer
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: peer
        image: convex/convex:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 18888
        - containerPort: 8080
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 4
            memory: 8Gi
          limits:
            cpu: 8
            memory: 16Gi
        volumeMounts:
        - name: data
          mountPath: /app/data
  volumeClaimTemplates:
  - metadata:
      name: data
    spec:
      accessModes: ["ReadWriteOnce"]
      resources:
        requests:
          storage: 500Gi

Cost Optimisation​

Tips for Reducing Costs​

  1. Right-size resources: Start smaller, scale as needed
  2. Use spot/preemptible instances: For testnets only
  3. Reserved instances: Commit for 1-3 years (30-70% savings)
  4. Monitor usage: Identify waste, optimise
  5. Compare providers: Benchmark cost vs performance

Cost Estimation​

Monthly Cloud Costs (USD):

  • Minimum spec: $100-150
  • Recommended spec: $250-400
  • Enterprise spec: $500-1,000+

Monthly Dedicated Costs (USD):

  • Entry level: $50-100
  • Mid-range: $100-300
  • High-end: $300-1,000+

Next Steps​

Resources​