The gossip network that connects all nodes in a Solana cluster for metadata exchange, peer discovery, and protocol coordination. The control plane carries validator contact information, vote status, shred versions, epoch slots, and other protocol messages via the CRDS protocol. It operates separately from the data plane, which handles block data propagation.
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The gossip network that connects all nodes in a Solana cluster for metadata exchange, peer discovery, and protocol coordination. The control plane carries validator contact information, vote status, shred versions, epoch slots, and other protocol messages via the CRDS protocol. It operates separately from the data plane, which handles block data propagation.
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Think of it as part of the chain machinery that keeps ordering, execution, or consensus moving.
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Consensus, leader rotation, slots, epochs, and the runtime.
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Control Plane (control-plane) Category: Core Protocol Definition: The gossip network that connects all nodes in a Solana cluster for metadata exchange, peer discovery, and protocol coordination. The control plane carries validator contact information, vote status, shred versions, epoch slots, and other protocol messages via the CRDS protocol. It operates separately from the data plane, which handles block data propagation. Related: Gossip Protocol, Data Plane, Cluster
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A protocol used by validators to exchange metadata and discover peers without relying on a central server. Gossip propagates contact info, vote status, shred versions, epoch slots, and other protocol messages via CRDS. It does not carry transaction or block data—those use TPU and Turbine respectively.
The high-throughput multicast network used for propagating block data (shreds) and forwarding transactions between validators. The data plane uses Turbine for block propagation and QUIC for transaction submission, optimized for bandwidth and low latency. It operates independently from the control plane (gossip), which handles metadata and coordination.
A set of validators working together to maintain a single Solana ledger. Solana operates three main clusters: mainnet-beta (production), devnet (development), and testnet (stress testing). Each cluster has its own genesis block, token supply, and independent validator set. Validators in a cluster discover each other via the gossip protocol.
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The high-throughput multicast network used for propagating block data (shreds) and forwarding transactions between validators. The data plane uses Turbine for block propagation and QUIC for transaction submission, optimized for bandwidth and low latency. It operates independently from the control plane (gossip), which handles metadata and coordination.
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A protocol used by validators to exchange metadata and discover peers without relying on a central server. Gossip propagates contact info, vote status, shred versions, epoch slots, and other protocol messages via CRDS. It does not carry transaction or block data—those use TPU and Turbine respectively.
The high-throughput multicast network used for propagating block data (shreds) and forwarding transactions between validators. The data plane uses Turbine for block propagation and QUIC for transaction submission, optimized for bandwidth and low latency. It operates independently from the control plane (gossip), which handles metadata and coordination.
A set of validators working together to maintain a single Solana ledger. Solana operates three main clusters: mainnet-beta (production), devnet (development), and testnet (stress testing). Each cluster has its own genesis block, token supply, and independent validator set. Validators in a cluster discover each other via the gossip protocol.
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A clock mechanism that cryptographically proves the passage of time between events. PoH uses a sequential SHA-256 hash chain where each output becomes the next input, creating a verifiable ordering of events without requiring consensus. The leader produces ~400,000 hashes per slot (~400ms), and any validator can verify the sequence in parallel, enabling Solana's high throughput by removing the need for validators to agree on time.
Solana's custom BFT consensus algorithm built on top of Proof of History. Tower BFT uses PoH as a clock to reduce communication overhead in traditional PBFT from O(n²) to O(n). Validators vote on forks with exponentially increasing lockout periods—each consecutive vote doubles the lockout, making rollbacks progressively more expensive. A fork is finalized when it reaches supermajority (66.7%+ of stake).
A time window during which a designated leader validator can produce a block. Each slot lasts approximately 400 milliseconds. Slots are numbered sequentially from genesis and grouped into epochs of 432,000 slots (~2-3 days). Not every slot produces a block—a skipped slot means the leader was offline or too slow.
A set of entries produced by a leader during a single slot. A block contains transactions bundled into entries, each with a PoH hash proving ordering. Blocks are broken into shreds for network propagation via Turbine. Maximum block size is limited by compute units (48M CU cap per block) rather than byte size.