What you need
The Control Panel is the management interface where you deploy, monitor, and manage blockchain nodes. It requires very modest resources:| Resource | Minimum |
|---|---|
| CPU | 1 core |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB |
These are the requirements for the Control Panel only. No blockchain node resources are needed at this stage.
- A modern laptop or desktop running Linux
- A virtual machine with 2 GB of RAM
- A basic cloud instance from any provider
Software
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS |
| Kubernetes | k3s (installed during setup) |
The quick start guide walks you through installing k3s and all other required tools. No prior Kubernetes experience is needed.
What you can evaluate
With just the Control Panel running, you can:- Explore the Chainstack Self-Hosted web interface and deployment workflow
- See the available protocols and node configurations
- Understand how Chainstack Self-Hosted manages infrastructure
- Plan your production deployment based on hands-on experience with the product
Get started
- Join the beta — get access to the installer
- Quick start — end-to-end walkthrough from a fresh Ubuntu server to a running Control Panel
- System requirements — full hardware specifications for production planning
Optional — deploy a testnet node
If you want to go a step further and deploy an actual blockchain node, the Ethereum Hoodi testnet is the lightest option available.| Resource | Control Panel + Hoodi node |
|---|---|
| CPU | 4 cores |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 250 GB NVMe SSD |
Hoodi is an Ethereum testnet that uses test ETH with no real value, making it ideal for evaluation. Initial sync takes several hours to a day depending on your hardware.