Network Architecture

Understanding Arch Network's distributed system architecture and node interactions

Arch Network operates as a distributed system with different types of nodes working together to provide secure and efficient program execution on Bitcoin. This document details the network's architecture and how different components interact.

Network Overview

Node Types

1. Bootnode

The bootnode serves as the network's entry point, similar to DNS seeds in Bitcoin:

Handles initial network discovery
Maintains whitelist of valid validators
Coordinates peer connections
Manages network topology

Configuration:

cargo run -p bootnode -- \
    --network-mode localnet \
    --p2p-bind-port 19001 \
    --leader-peer-id "<LEADER_ID>" \
    --validator-whitelist "<VALIDATOR_IDS>"

2. Leader Node

The leader node coordinates transaction processing and Bitcoin integration:

Key responsibilities:

Transaction Coordination: Manages transaction flow and validation
MultiSig Aggregation: Collects and aggregates threshold signatures
Bitcoin Integration: Handles Bitcoin RPC communication
Network Management: Coordinates with validators and bootnode

3. Validator Nodes

Validator nodes execute programs and participate in consensus:

Validator responsibilities:

Program Execution: Run smart contracts in the Arch VM
State Management: Maintain program and account state
Consensus Participation: Contribute to threshold signatures
Transaction Validation: Verify transaction integrity

Network Communication

Message Flow

Protocol Stack

Security Model

Multi-Layer Security

Arch Network implements security at multiple layers:

Bitcoin Security: Leverages Bitcoin's proven security guarantees
Threshold Signatures: No single validator can compromise the system
Network Security: Authenticated peer-to-peer communication
Program Security: Sandboxed execution environment

Threat Model

Performance Characteristics

Scalability

Horizontal Scaling: Add more validators for increased throughput
Parallel Processing: Multiple transactions processed simultaneously
Efficient State Management: Optimized data structures for fast access
Network Optimization: Efficient peer-to-peer communication

Throughput

High TPS: Optimized for high transaction throughput
Low Latency: Fast transaction confirmation
Batch Processing: Efficient handling of multiple operations
Resource Management: Compute budget optimization

Reliability

Fault Tolerance: Continues operation despite node failures
Recovery: Automatic recovery from network partitions
Audit Trail: Complete transaction history and state changes
Monitoring: Real-time performance and health monitoring

Network Configuration

Development Network

# Start local development network
arch-cli orchestrate start

# Services:
# - Bitcoin Core: http://127.0.0.1:18443
# - Titan API: http://127.0.0.1:8080
# - Validator RPC: http://127.0.0.1:9002

Testnet Configuration

# Configure for testnet
arch-cli config create-profile testnet \
    --bitcoin-node-endpoint http://bitcoin-rpc.test.arch.network:80 \
    --bitcoin-network testnet \
    --arch-node-url http://localhost:9002

Production Network

Production network configuration will be available when mainnet launches.

Monitoring and Telemetry

Health Checks

# Check validator health
curl http://localhost:9002/health

# Check Bitcoin connection
bitcoin-cli -regtest getblockchaininfo

# Check Titan status
curl http://localhost:8080/health