This page outlines the hardware, software, and network requirements for running Chainstack Self-Hosted.
Overview
Chainstack Self-Hosted consists of two main components with different resource requirements:
- Control Panel — the management platform that handles deployments, authentication, and orchestration
- Blockchain nodes — the actual blockchain clients that you deploy and manage
Control Panel requirements
The Control Panel runs inside a Kubernetes cluster and includes the web interface, API services, database, and workflow orchestration.
Hardware requirements
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|
| CPU | 1 core | 4 cores |
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage | 8 GB | 15 GB |
These requirements are for the Control Panel only. Blockchain nodes require additional resources as specified below.
Software requirements
| Component | Requirement | Notes |
|---|
| Kubernetes | Any recent version | k3s, k8s, EKS, GKE, AKS supported |
| Helm | v3.x or later | Required for installation |
| yq | v4.x or later | mikefarah/yq required |
| openssl | Any recent version | Required for certificate generation |
| kubectl | Compatible with cluster | Required for cluster management |
Operating systems
The Control Panel is distributed as an umbrella Helm chart and runs on any Kubernetes-compatible environment. The underlying host operating system should be a modern Linux distribution capable of running Kubernetes.
Tested configurations:
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with k3s
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with k3s
Kubernetes storage requirements
A storage class with dynamic provisioning is required for persistent volumes. The installer creates PersistentVolumeClaims for the PostgreSQL database.
Tips for storage classes:
- k3s — local-path (default) or TopoLVM for multi-disk setups
- Cloud providers — use the default storage class (gp2/gp3 for AWS, standard for GCP, managed-premium for Azure)
- On-premises — any CSI-compatible storage provisioner
Blockchain node requirements
Resource requirements vary by protocol and node configuration. Below are the requirements for currently supported configurations.
Ethereum Mainnet full node (Reth + Prysm)
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|
| CPU | 4 cores | 6+ cores |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Storage | 2 TB NVMe SSD | 4 TB NVMe SSD |
Ethereum Sepolia testnet full node (Reth + Prysm)
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|
| CPU | 4 cores | 6+ cores |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Storage | 1.5 TB NVMe SSD | 2 TB NVMe SSD |
Ethereum Hoodi testnet full node (Reth + Prysm)
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|
| CPU | 4 cores | 6+ cores |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Storage | 250 GB NVMe SSD | 500 GB NVMe SSD |
Storage considerations
- SSD type — TLC NVMe drives are strongly recommended. Avoid QLC drives due to lower write endurance and performance
- Storage growth — the Ethereum chain grows approximately 1 TB per year. Plan for 4 TB to ensure several years of headroom
- IOPS — high random read/write performance is critical. Target drives with sustained write speeds of 1+ GB/s
For a deep dive on SSD selection for Ethereum nodes, see yorickdowne’s SSD guide.
CPU considerations
- Clock speed matters more than core count for blockchain nodes
- Higher single-thread performance improves block processing
- AMD Ryzen 7000/9000 series or Intel Core 12th gen+ recommended
Initial sync time
| Method | Approximate time |
|---|
| Full sync | 2–5 days |
Snapshot-based deployment for faster initial sync is planned. See the FAQ for the timeline. Network requirements
Internal communication (within Kubernetes cluster)
All Control Panel services communicate internally within the Kubernetes cluster. The following ports are used for internal service-to-service communication:
| Service | Port | Protocol | Purpose |
|---|
| cp-ui | 80 | TCP | Web interface |
| cp-auth | 8080, 9090 | TCP | Authentication service |
| cp-deployments-api | 8080, 9090 | TCP | Deployment management API |
| keycloak | 80, 8080 | TCP | Identity management |
| PostgreSQL | 5432 | TCP | Database |
| Temporal | 7233–7246 | TCP | Workflow orchestration |
External access
To access the Control Panel web interface, you need to expose the cp-cp-ui service. Options include:
| Method | Use case |
|---|
| LoadBalancer | Production deployments with external load balancer |
| NodePort | Direct access via node IP and port |
| Ingress | Production deployments with ingress controller |
| Port forward | Development and testing |
Firewall rules
For the Control Panel, only the UI service port needs to be accessible from outside the cluster. All other services communicate internally.
For blockchain nodes, the required ports depend on the protocol:
Ethereum nodes
| Port | Protocol | Purpose |
|---|
| 8546 | TCP/UDP | Execution client WSS |
| 8545 | TCP | Execution client HTTP |
| 5052 | TCP/UDP | Consensus client HTTP |
Combined infrastructure example
For a complete deployment running the Control Panel plus one Ethereum Mainnet full node:
| Resource | Control Panel | Ethereum Node | Total |
|---|
| CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores | 6 cores |
| RAM | 2 GB | 16 GB | 18 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB | 2 TB | ~2 TB |
Example server configurations
Budget configuration (single Ethereum Mainnet node)
- CPU — AMD Ryzen 5 7600 or Intel Core i5-13400
- RAM — 32 GB DDR5
- Storage — 4 TB NVMe SSD
Testnet configuration (2 Ethereum testnet nodes)
- CPU — AMD Ryzen 5 7600 or Intel Core i5-13400
- RAM — 32 GB DDR5
- Storage — 3 TB NVMe SSDs
Next steps
Once you’ve verified your system meets these requirements:
- Quick start guide — Complete walkthrough from zero to running
- Installation guide — Detailed installation instructions
