Frequently Asked Questions¶

Common questions about SolanaVault.

General¶

What is SolanaVault?¶

SolanaVault is a decentralized blockchain compression and storage network for Solana. It achieves 15-25:1 compression ratios on blockchain data while maintaining full compatibility with standard Solana RPC APIs.

How does SolanaVault differ from running my own Solana node?¶

Is SolanaVault open source?¶

Yes, SolanaVault is open source under the MIT License.

What compression ratios can I expect?¶

Light Client¶

How much does it cost to use the light client?¶

Pricing is based on usage:

Volume discounts of 10-25% are available.

Can I use existing Solana tools with SolanaVault?¶

Yes! SolanaVault provides a drop-in compatible RPC endpoint. All existing tools work:

• Solana CLI
• @solana/web3.js
• solana-py
• Any Solana RPC client

How do I reduce my costs?¶

1. Enable caching - Repeated requests cost 50% less
2. Use historical data - 20% cheaper than real-time
3. Batch requests - Reduces per-request overhead
4. Build volume - Discounts start at 10,000 requests/month

Is my data secure?¶

Yes: - All communications are encrypted (TLS 1.3) - No private keys or sensitive data are transmitted - Light client only reads public blockchain data

Gateway Operators¶

How much can I earn as a gateway operator?¶

Revenue depends on: - Request volume - Average request size - Competition from other gateways

Example: 10M requests/month at 500μ average = ~4.75M tokens/month (after 5% network fee).

What are the hardware requirements?¶

How do I attract more clients?¶

1. Competitive pricing - Lower fees attract volume
2. High availability - 99.9%+ uptime
3. Low latency - Fast responses
4. Geographic presence - Serve local clients

Can I set my own prices?¶

Yes, gateways control their pricing within market parameters. You can adjust: - Base fees - Data fees - Priority multipliers - Volume discounts

Full Nodes¶

What's the difference between a gateway and a full node?¶

How much stake do I need?¶

What happens if my node goes offline?¶

• Short outage (<1 hour): No penalty
• Extended outage (1-24 hours): Reduced reputation
• Long outage (>24 hours): 1%/day stake slashing

Can I run both a gateway and a full node?¶

Yes! Many operators run both to maximize revenue: - Gateway earns request fees - Full node earns consensus rewards

Compression¶

Is compression lossless?¶

Yes, all compression is completely lossless. Decompressed data is identical to the original, verified by cryptographic hash comparison.

How fast is decompression?¶

Can I compress my own data?¶

Yes, use the CLI or Rust library:

vault-cli compress-demo --blocks 245000000:245001000

use vault_core::compression::{compress, CompressionStrategy};
let compressed = compress(&data, CompressionStrategy::High)?;

Security¶

How does consensus work?¶

SolanaVault uses Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus: - 2/3 majority required for agreement - Tolerates up to 1/3 malicious nodes - Single-round finality (no forks)

What prevents data corruption?¶

Multiple layers of protection: 1. Cryptographic hashes - Verify data integrity 2. BFT consensus - 2/3 nodes must agree 3. Replication - Data stored on multiple nodes 4. Slashing - Economic penalties for corruption

Is my application data private?¶

SolanaVault only stores public blockchain data. It does not: - Store private keys - Have access to your wallet - Track application-level data

Economics¶

Where does the 5% network fee go?¶

How do staking rewards work?¶

Daily Reward = Base Reward × Stake Weight × Uptime × Reputation

Rewards are distributed daily and can be claimed anytime after a 24-hour cooldown.

What are the slashing conditions?¶

Technical¶

What protocols does SolanaVault use?¶

What are the network requirements?¶

Can I run SolanaVault in Docker?¶

Yes:

docker run -d \
  -p 3030:3030 \
  -p 4040:4040 \
  -v /data/vault:/data \
  solanavault/gateway

Is there a testnet?¶

Yes, connect to the testnet:

[network]
bootstrap_nodes = [
    "tcp://testnet-bootstrap1.solanavault.com:4040"
]

Troubleshooting¶

Where can I find logs?¶

# Systemd
journalctl -u solanavault-node -f

# Debug logging
RUST_LOG=debug vault-node ...

How do I report a bug?¶

1. Search existing issues: GitHub Issues
2. If new, open an issue with:
3. Version (vault-cli --version)
4. OS and hardware
5. Steps to reproduce
6. Logs and error messages

Where can I get help?¶

• Documentation: You're here!
• GitHub Issues: Technical problems
• Discord: Real-time community help
• Twitter: Announcements and updates

Future Plans¶

What features are planned?¶

• Cross-chain support (Ethereum, etc.)
• Mobile light client SDKs
• Advanced compression algorithms
• Governance system
• Layer 2 integration

How can I contribute?¶

1. Code: Submit PRs on GitHub
2. Documentation: Improve docs
3. Testing: Report bugs
4. Community: Help others

See Contributing Guide.

Still have questions?¶

• Check Common Issues for troubleshooting
• Browse the full documentation
• Ask on GitHub or Discord