The Downgrade of Solana’s Main Network Beta Cluster: Understanding the Cause and Solution

On April 19th, Solana reported in a post that at approximately 13:46:16 Beijing time on February 25th, the reason for the downgrade of Solana’s main network Beta cluster was due to congestion in the main block propagation protocol “Turbine”. Abnormal network traffic caused Turbine capacity to saturate, forcing most block data to be transmitted through the extremely slow backup block repair protocol. The core engineer has determined that this issue is caused by a logical failure in deduplication in the fragment forwarding service.

Solana: On February 25th, the main network malfunctioned due to congestion in the main block propagation protocol “Turbine”

Solana is a reputable blockchain platform known for its high scalability, fast transaction processing, and low transaction fees. However, on February 25th, the platform reported a downgrade of its main network beta cluster. This article aims to explore the reason behind the downgrade and the steps taken to address the issue.

Overview

On April 19th, Solana reported in a post that the cause of the downgrade of its main network Beta cluster was due to congestion in the main block propagation protocol “Turbine”. This congestion resulted from abnormal network traffic that caused Turbine capacity to saturate, forcing most block data to be transmitted through the extremely slow backup block repair protocol.
The issue was attributed to a logical failure in deduplication in the fragment forwarding service. This failure prevented the system from identifying redundant data and caused a backlog of wait times for blocks to be processed.

The Cause

According to Solana’s report, the main issue with the Beta cluster was not the result of a hack or malicious attack. Rather, it was a logical failure in the fragmentation forwarding service. The service was responsible for managing fragment forwarding and analyzing fragmented blocks received from the network.
Due to the failure, the service could not identify redundant data blocks within the fragments accurately. This caused the system to waste significant time processing data that was already present in its records, leading to the massive backlog that ultimately caused the downgrade.

The Solution

Solana’s engineers resolved the issue by updating and upgrading the main block propagation protocol. They introduced a new process that enabled the system to manage the forwarding of fragments in a more efficient manner. The new process compresses the data, reducing the amount of redundant blocks.
Additionally, the engineers made changes to the system’s handling of fragmented blocks. They introduced a new protocol that enables it to identify and discard fragmented blocks that do not contain unique information, minimizing storage and processing needs.

Conclusion

The downgrade of Solana’s main network Beta cluster was due to congestion in the main block propagation protocol “Turbine.” The congestion resulted from abnormal network traffic that caused Turbine capacity to saturate, forcing most block data to be transmitted through the extremely slow backup block repair protocol.
The issue was attributed to a logical failure in deduplication in the fragment forwarding service. However, Solana’s engineers were quick to address it by upgrading and updating the main block propagation protocol and introducing new processes that enable efficient management of the system.

FAQs

Q: What is Solana?
A: Solana is a blockchain platform known for its high scalability, fast transaction processing, and low transaction fees.
Q: What caused the downgrade of Solana’s main network Beta cluster?
A: The downgrade was caused by congestion in the main block propagation protocol “Turbine” due to abnormal network traffic, forcing most block data to be transmitted through the slow backup block repair protocol. The issue was attributed to a logical failure in deduplication in the fragment forwarding service.
Q: How was the issue resolved?
A: Solana’s engineers resolved the issue by upgrading and updating the main block propagation protocol and introducing new processes that enable efficient management of the system.