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The configuration that defines the length of an epoch in slots and governs how epoch boundaries are calculated on a Solana cluster. On mainnet-beta, each epoch is 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days at 400ms per slot). The epoch schedule determines when staking rewards are distributed, when stake activations and deactivations take effect, and when the leader schedule is recalculated. It is set at genesis and queryable via the getEpochSchedule RPC method.

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Epoch Schedule (epoch-schedule)
Category: Network
Definition: The configuration that defines the length of an epoch in slots and governs how epoch boundaries are calculated on a Solana cluster. On mainnet-beta, each epoch is 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days at 400ms per slot). The epoch schedule determines when staking rewards are distributed, when stake activations and deactivations take effect, and when the leader schedule is recalculated. It is set at genesis and queryable via the getEpochSchedule RPC method.
Related: Epoch, Slot, Genesis Config

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Branch

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

Leader Schedule Stake-Weighted QoS (SWQoS)

Open term

Branch

Slot

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.

Block

Open term

Branch

Genesis Config

The configuration file that defines the initial state of a Solana cluster at genesis, including the initial token supply, built-in program deployments, cluster parameters (ticks per slot, slots per epoch), fee schedule, and rent configuration. The genesis config is generated by the solana-genesis tool and must be shared identically among all validators to bootstrap a cluster.

Genesis Block Cluster

Open term

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Core Protocol

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

Open term

Core Protocol

Slot

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.

Open term

Core Protocol

Genesis Config

The configuration file that defines the initial state of a Solana cluster at genesis, including the initial token supply, built-in program deployments, cluster parameters (ticks per slot, slots per epoch), fee schedule, and rent configuration. The genesis config is generated by the solana-genesis tool and must be shared identically among all validators to bootstrap a cluster.

Open term

Network

Fee Market (Local/Global)

Solana operates a local fee market rather than a global one: priority fee competition is scoped to transactions that contend for the same writable accounts, so congestion on one hot account (e.g., a popular AMM pool) does not raise fees for unrelated transactions. This account-centric model means that a highly contested token mint or DEX pool can require very high priority fees to land while other transactions proceed cheaply in parallel. The local fee market is enforced by the scheduler's per-account fee-priority ordering.

Open term

Related terms

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Core Protocolepoch

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

Open term

Core Protocolslot

Slot

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.

Open term

Core Protocolgenesis-config

Genesis Config

The configuration file that defines the initial state of a Solana cluster at genesis, including the initial token supply, built-in program deployments, cluster parameters (ticks per slot, slots per epoch), fee schedule, and rent configuration. The genesis config is generated by the solana-genesis tool and must be shared identically among all validators to bootstrap a cluster.

Open term

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Network

Mainnet Beta

Solana's primary production cluster where real SOL and real economic activity occur; the "beta" designation reflects the network's ongoing protocol development despite being fully live since March 2020. It uses the same architecture as other clusters but with real validator stakes, live staking rewards, and permanent on-chain state. All production dApps, tokens, and NFTs exist on Mainnet Beta.

Open term

Network

Devnet

A persistent public Solana cluster intended for application development and testing, running the same software version as Mainnet Beta but with no real economic value. Devnet SOL can be freely airdropped via the CLI or faucet APIs, and the ledger may be reset periodically by Solana Labs. Developers use Devnet to test programs and integrations before deploying to Mainnet Beta.

Open term

Network

Testnet

A public Solana cluster used primarily by the Solana core team and validators to test new software releases, performance benchmarks, and network upgrades under real network conditions before they reach Mainnet Beta. Testnet SOL has no monetary value, and the ledger is reset more frequently than Devnet; it is less suitable for application development and more suited for validator operators validating their infrastructure.

Open term

Network

TPS (Transactions Per Second)

The rate at which a Solana cluster processes and commits transactions; Solana's theoretical maximum exceeds 65,000 TPS due to its parallel execution model, though real-world sustained throughput on Mainnet Beta typically ranges from 2,000–5,000 non-vote TPS under normal load. Vote transactions (used for consensus) make up a significant portion of all on-chain activity and are counted separately. High TPS is enabled by Proof of History timestamps, Sealevel parallel execution, and Gulf Stream mempool-less forwarding.

Open term