Cellframe nodes: How does it work! Your FAQs answered.

The entire Cellframe network essentially consists of multiple peer-to-peer communicated applications. Devices where these applications would be running, are called nodes. As more nodes join the network, the more secure, stable, and decentralized the network becomes over time. Cellframe is a service-oriented blockchain. As far as nodes are concerned, this means that the master nodes (during further reading, nodes would mean master nodes unless specified otherwise) can provide services over the network and generate income from users who will be required to pay a fee for utilizing these services. The service author receives the author’s fee, and the network fee goes to the network development fund on which the transaction is carried out (Cellframe network or another parachain network). The fees are determined by the authors of the service and the network owners, respectively.
These services will be provided by running t-dApps (truly decentralized applications) on your device. The validator (the node host) will be able to provide some services: content delivery network, streaming platform, dedicated messenger, storage, cloud system, VPN, IoT hub, etc. After the mainnet launch, the team will support and incubate many third-party teams that will develop t-dApps to fill our t-dApps library. We are also working on developing and deploying some of our t-dApps. So when you start your Node, you need to choose one of the t-dApps from the t-dApps library and run the service.

Why will Cellframe use t-dApps instead of dApps? What is the difference?

The main difference between dApps and t-dApps is that the former has a dedicated execution of codes with a single address controlling all the funds. If this owner’s wallet is hacked, all these funds can be stolen. On the contrary, a t-dApp has no single owner address as it does not rely on a smart contract. A t-dApp is more or less a service plugin that could be run by any node that in turn collects all the profit to itself (except network fee and author fee).
The minimum required amount of tokens to run a master node has been set to 1000 $CELLs. However, the minimum requirement for a node could be further decreased once the number of nodes across the network increases and becomes sustainable to enable and facilitate network adoption on a wider scale.
The hardware and internet connection requirements for running the nodes are flexible and depend on the services you are looking to run. You might be able to use even a Rasberry Pi in many cases, but say you want to provide VPN services only. In this situation, the internet connection is more important than the hardware specifications of your system. If one is looking to execute machine learning services, powerful hardware is paramount. So you can choose what type of service you can or want to provide before setting up your Node. So you can choose what type of service/s you can or want to provide before setting up your Node. Also, one can run as many nodes as desired as there is no limit on the number of nodes per person or device if you have enough $Cell tokens.
Unlike other platforms, one of the key advantages of using our network is no penalties for validators. Our system of validator-reliability verification will be based on validator reputation. To sum it up, the higher the validator’s reputation, the more likely the chances that the network users are directed to him/her for services.

Frequently asked questions:

Q: What is a node?
A: A node is the basic element of Cellframe network, basically a client-server service running in the background that manages and organizes interconnection with other nodes.

Q: How does it work?
A: Each Cellframe Node communicates with the other nodes in its logical network in a peer-to-peer manner and could be managed via its console. The Node contains both a client and a server submodule. Since the node client can send various requests to other ones and can respond to queries generated by other nodes, a node is capable of providing various services to other nodes. All communication between nodes is built based on logical (virtual) channels with special identifiers. These identifiers allow the client to find the desired service at a remote node and communicate with it through the appropriate channel. More information here: https://wiki.cellframe.net/02.+Learn/Technology/Architecture+Overview

Q: How many tokens are needed to run a Node?
A: You need 1000 $CELL tokens to run a node at the moment. The required amount will be decreased depending on $Cell price and the number of nodes the network has in the foreseeable future.

Q: How many total numbers of nodes can be run on the entire Cellframe network?
A: The potential number of nodes is unlimited. The maximum number is infinity. What does it mean? While the token amount requirements to run a node in other blockchains have decreased gradually, we will only decrease this amount for our network. When the number of nodes in the network reaches a certain value, the required amount of tokens can be further reduced to make our network more decentralized.

Q: What are the rewards for running a node? What is the APY (annual percentage yield) for running my own Node?
A: The reward is that each Node can launch its own service. The dividends from the launch of your service are in no way limited on our part. A node can run multiple services simultaneously like VPN, transaction execution, execution of smart contracts, IoT hub, etc. The more the number of services run by a node, the greater is the dividends.

Q: Is it better to become a single large node or divide my tokens to run multiple nodes?
A: If you have 2000 $CELL, you can decide to run two nodes or a single node with all of your tokens combined, although putting it out straight, multiple is better in terms of dividends and better for network health.

Q: What are risks and rewards involved?
A: Since there are no rigorous requirements for nodes to be online all time, there are no monetary penalties. It will all depend on the type of service provided by the Node in question. The only possible outcome of risks is a deterioration of reputation or/and eventually ban.

Q: Is it better to run a node than a stake?
A: A node can provide services and create an earning in doing so, which is not limited and depends on the volume of provided services. However, if you are looking only for limited passive income, it might be preferable to stake your $CELL.

Q: Are there recommended hardware requirements for running a node? Does it look like it may be amd64 only?
A: One reason for developing this project is that you don’t need powerful hardware to run a node. You can even use Raspberry Pi to run one. But every type of service that can be run on the Node requires its hardware and network bandwidth parameters. So, for example, if service consists of any computational tasks, it is better to use more powerful hardware and improve your reputation.

Q: Can I run on WSL2?
A: Yes, if that’s what you want. But we have a dashboard app for Windows, so you don’t need a Linux system. Also, you can try your WSL2 on Windows 11 with GUI support.

Q: Can we use an android phone to run a node?
A: Yes. We will soon release Cellframe Dashboard apps for Android and iOS. The dashboard is our multipurpose app where you can also manage your Node.

Q: Can we run nodes on typical Ubuntu VPS?
A: Yes.

Q: Is there a tier for nodes?
A: As of now, we are planning on many kinds of nodes.The Root Node can issue Zero-chain via proof-of-authority consensus. Maybe this proof-of-consensus will also be replaced with Proof-of-Stake in about a year. Also, we would work on making Master Nodes capable of issuing Zero-chain (thus replacing Root Nodes entirely).The Master Node could push some data in the chain, propose states and consensus, and is the only Node that can provide services.A Full Node holds all its shards and calculates different balances in this shard.A Light Node holds only your transactions, and Light Node could use it on light hardware such as mobile devices.The Archive Node collects all shards of the network and stores these.Different gradation of node tiers might be possible in the future.

Q: What is the difference between running a node and having a slot in Cellchain?
A: The slot in the parachain permits the organization of your custom network of nodes independent of the mainnet of blockchain; this helps maintain interaction between multiple networks simultaneously. The services running on a node can directly interact only with other nodes within that particular parachain network. Thus each parachain can have separate specialization and use cases but stay linked with the whole array of networks in the Cellframe network.

Q: As it is important for the decentralized network, how will the launch of nodes be encouraged?
A: Our team is currently working on filling a t-dApps library, including ordering t-dApps development from third-party developers. When someone runs a node on his device, he can choose the role and use node work and application cases. The Node can provide VPN services, the computing power of the CPU, the memory capacity of SSD, etc. By providing the service, the validator will be able to receive the reward by using one or several t-dApps obtained from our t-dApps library. So the launch of t-dApp is an excellent opportunity to have truly decentralized applications with quantum resistance.

Q: If the required amount of tokens to run the Node will decrease in the future, will the excess tokens delegated to existing nodes be released?
A: Yes, they will be unblocked and can be used for running other nodes.

Q: Can you run many nodes on the same IP?
A: Yes, with different ports.

Q: Is it one node/computer, or can we just run multiple instances from the same laptop/pc?A: Both scenarios are possible.

Q: Are my Cell tokens locked while I run a node? If yes, for how long?
A: Yes, you provide service as a node for the entire duration.

Q: Suppose the amount of $CELL required to run a node increases in the future. Can an early node user lock the number of his/her Cell tokens delegated to his/her Node to be better prepared for such a scenario playing out?
A: Yes, one can, but rest assured that the requirement for running nodes in terms of $CELL will only decrease.

Q: If I plan on running a node with 1,000 $CELL, will my node spot be guaranteed? Or do I need to lobby for delegates?
A: The node spot is guaranteed.

Q: Can I run a node using my ERC-20 or BEP-20 $CELL?
A: You will need $Cell tokens on the native network.

Q: What are the security risks for running a node? Is it legal?
A: It depends on your local laws and the type of service/s you plan to run. For example, if you share VPN services, it could be illegal in certain countries. Therefore it would be best to check with your local/country laws and regulations.

Q: If I use a Raspberry Pi to run a node, how do I store my Cell tokens to verify that I possess 1k $CELL?
A: Delegate-mechanism allows you to lock your stake on your laptop or mobile phone. There is no necessity to have a wallet on the hardware where your service is running. The certificate is created on the hardware. The fingerprint of this certificate is added to the wallet from where one can delegate 1000 $CELL to this fingerprint.

Q: What are the requirements for the Node in terms of internet connection? What should be the network speed? And what should be the uptime of the Node?
A: The requirements depend on provided service/s. If there is VPN, then as more as possible. If there is some machine learning service, it is not so important.

Q: Is there any limit on node operators? For example, if I have 80k CELL, can I operate 80 unique Nodes?
A: No limits. You can.

Q: I have both $CELL and $KEL. Can I run both Nodes on the same computer?
A: Yes, you can run both nodes in one app simultaneously.