2023/11/09 by Mikel Cortes-Goicoechea, Tarun Mohandas-Daryanani, Cortes-Goicoechea, Mikel +5 · 2 citations
Computer Science · #Blockchain Technology Applications and Security #Caching and Content Delivery #Cloud Computing and Resource Management #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.05252
openalex publication_date 2023/11/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Scalability is a common issue among the most used permissionless blockchains, and several approaches have been proposed to solve this issue. Tackling scalability while preserving the security and decentralization of the network is a significant challenge. To deliver effective scaling solutions, Ethereum achieved a major protocol improvement, including a change in the consensus mechanism towards Proof of Stake. This improvement aimed a vast reduction of the hardware requirements to run a node, leading to significant sustainability benefits with a lower network energy consumption. This work analyzes the resource usage behavior of different clients running as Ethereum consensus nodes, comparing their performance under different configurations and analyzing their differences. Our results show higher requirements than claimed initially and how different clients react to network perturbations. Furthermore, we discuss the differences between the consensus clients, including their strong points and limitations.