Glossary

For non-technical users – explanation of the most important terms:

Node

A computer participating in the blockchain network that stores a copy of the blockchain and participates in network consensus.

RPC (Remote Procedure Call)

A way to communicate with a node via HTTP protocol. Enables reading node status and performance metrics.

Block

A data unit in the blockchain containing transactions and a header with metadata. Blocks are linked into a chain (blockchain).

Synchronization (Sync)

The process of catching up with the network – the node downloads and verifies all blocks to have an up-to-date copy of the blockchain. A node is synchronized when its block height is equal (or very close) to the block height in the network.

Response Time

The time it takes for a node to respond to an HTTP query. Measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower time means better performance.

Percentile (P95, P99)

A statistical value showing that 95% (or 99%) of requests were faster than this value. E.g., P99 = 200ms means that 99% of requests were faster than 200ms.

Governors

Nodes in the Redbelly Network that serve as reference nodes. Comparing the node's block with the governors' block allows determining if the node is synchronized.

Status Server

An HTTP server running in the node that provides metrics and node status information on port 6539. Required for monitoring to work.

Prometheus Metrics

A standard metrics format used by monitoring tools. Contains detailed information about node performance (CPU, RAM, network, etc.).