Softstack

Ethereum 2.0 Validator Node Hosting in OVHcloud's Bare Metal Cloud

Softstack entered the market as a consulting company in 2017 and has expanded its services over time. As a German market leader in Web3 services, it focuses on start-ups as well as established companies that already use decentralised software solutions or intend to use them in the near future. In addition to providing consulting services, Softstack is also active in Web3 software development. In this field, Softstack covers the entire cycle, from the initial brainstorming (R&D) to front-end design and back-end development, concentrating mainly on the software development of smart contracts, custom blockchains and dApps . Decentralised apps based on Ethereum that are not subject to any control.

Due to the increased cyber security risk in Web3, Softstack offers comprehensive services to protect its clients’ products from cyber-attacks and to prepare them for such attacks in advance. Among other things, Softstack develops solutions in the field of dApp penetration testing and code audits of smart contracts, which are carried out by employees with experience in IT security. To date, Softstack has served more than 450 clients and protects over 100 billion US dollars of its clients’ cryptocurrencies through its IT security services.

Softstack has been cooperating with OVHcloud since 2017 and initially used its Web cloud for the domain hosting of its own website. After the Ethereum 2.0 Merge in September 2022, Softstack discovered the ideal solution for hosting validator nodes in OVHcloud Bare Metal portfolio .

Security, high bandwidth and fast delivery in a cost-effective overall package .

During the Ethereum Merge from the "Proof-of-Work" (PoW) Consensus to "Proof-of-Stake" (PoS), Ethereum is no longer secured by individual users based on their own hardware via mining, but by operating a validator node. For staking, so-called validator nodes are required, which validate and enable transactions. To host the validator nodes for its customers, Softstack needed servers that could be deployed quickly.

Until the merge, Softstack mainly used cloud products from a large hyperscaler. However, the provider's servers proved to be problematic for hosting the new validator nodes, as the provider does not offer unlimited bandwidth and dedicated servers. Unlimited bandwidth and high resilience are crucial when hosting Ethereum Nodes, as slowed traffic or outages have a direct impact on revenue.
 

“After the Ethereum 2.0 merge, we needed fail-safe, dedicated servers as quickly as possible without additional costs for high traffic”.

Yannik Heinze, Managing Director at Softstack.

The infrastructure of the hyperscalers that could be considered for this did not include dedicated servers. The delivery process would have taken several weeks, and Web3 could not be used without additional costs. Last but not least, the price-performance ratio plays an important role in staking, as the cost of the servers must be in economic proportion to the proof-of-stake revenues if they are to generate a profit in the long term – but the monthly costs for a server from the provider would have been in the five-digit range.   Softstack wanted to reduce costs and improve the economic ratio to revenues. 

Specialized contacts at no additional cost

Softstack has been using the Web Cloud for domain hosting from OVHcloud since 2017 and was a member of the OVHcloud Startup Program. When choosing the Web Cloud, the provision of free SSL certificates was a convincing factor at first. With the search for suitable IT infrastructure for validator nodes, the opportunity arose to test additional products from OVHcloud. In a conversation with the specialised contact person for Web3 topics at OVHcloud, Softstack became aware of the Bare Metal Server from OVHcloud.

Softstack opted for dedicated servers (Advance-1 Gen 2) with 2×1.92 TB SSD NVMe storage for validator node hosting, which was delivered in a very short time from OVHcloud's new datacentre in Strasbourg. The features of OVHcloud's bare metal servers were easily tailored to the specific requirements of Ethereum Nodes. The Advance-1 server s extremely powerful due to the very high frequency of its Hexa Core processor and offers the highest advanced security features, as Intel® SGX security and privacy standards. – values that the blockchain community shares with OVHcloud.

“In OVHcloud's Bare Metal Cloud, we not only found an ideal solution for the specific needs of the validator nodes, but were able to save money in the process.”

Yannick Heinze, Managing Director at Softstack

Growing together - from the Startup Program to the Partner Program

OVHcloud's Bare Metal Cloud has proved to be ideal for hosting Ethereum validator nodes. Their offering is significantly cheaper than an equivalent product with the previous provider, so by hosting with OVHcloud, the proof-of-stake revenue is positively proportionate to the cost of the servers. Another decisive factor was the guaranteed delivery within 24 hours with the option of choosing the desired datacentre - which in the end was only six hours. In addition, there’s the intuitive interface and the guaranteed connection with bandwidth of 1 Gbps to 5 Gbps with unlimited data traffic.

"Although we still use competing products, the fast delivery, the guaranteed connection of one to five gigabytes and the high data protection standards at OVHcloud have convinced us to switch completely to OVHcloud and to recommend their products to others.”"

 Yannick Heinze, Managing Director at Softstack