RockX Public RPC Node Support Q4 2022 & New Development Q2 & Q3 2023
Proponent: RockX
DOT Account: 14tm4js6PgrDGZttNzyy7CM4pnYiPu3LxxZDb1zhJWUc5Wpj
Date: 17/02/2023
Requested allocation: USD $93,063
Proposal Summary: Provide free RPC service for the community in 2023 across multiple parachains to encourage growth and development.
### UPDATED BASED ON COMMUNITY AND COUNCIL FEEDBACK
Project Summary
RockX currently provides free APIs on Polkadot and Kusama up to 100,000 requests per day. However, we would like to accelerate the ecosystem’s growth by expanding our offering to eventually include free packages for more parachains.
With the Treasury’s support, we plan to add 3 Parachains every Quarter from the start of 2023 until mid-2023 for a total of 6, where we will evaluate the current ecosystem status and adjust our processes accordingly. After the initial 6 chains have been onboarded, we aim to conduct an open call with other parachains to understand levels of interest before submitting a new proposal to add more parachains. We will also expand our Polkadot node offering to include a free archive node solution.
In addition to free API requests, RockX also provides a developer-friendly portal that allows users to set up APIs across all supported chains with just a few clicks, reducing the complexity and set-up time drastically. Last but not least, developers can also subscribe to our blockchain maintenance dashboard so that they will be able to receive the latest blockchain update information about Polkadot and its ecosystem.
To support the development of the Polkadot ecosystem, RockX will be offering free plans for developers that include 100K requests per day (or 3 million requests per month) for each blockchain supported above. This will be sufficient for most developers and users.
Developers can access this free API service by creating their own API Key on the RockX portal and using the provided tools to optimize their development efforts.
Up to 10 API keys can be generated for free for each blockchain. If any customization is needed, RockX can also assist with setting up custom archive nodes or full nodes.
Every quarter, RockX strives to improve and enhance our product offerings and infrastructure for developers in the Polkadot ecosystem, including front-end UI, connectivity, security, and reliability. New product releases can be found on RockX’s Twitter page.
In summary, we’re here to take on all the complexities of node operations and utilize economies of scale and scope to lower the developers’ barriers (time and money) to adoption.
History & Reliability
RockX has been providing RPCs for Polkadot and Kusama since Oct 2021 and has achieved service reliability of 99.9% for Q4 2022 (Link).
The duplicate Polkadot nodes setup and the automatic failover system ensure the stability of the Polkadot node. In case of a node failure incident or during the Polkadot mainnet upgrade period, the automatic failover system directs users' requests to a backup node, ensuring continuous network operation.
Notable Recent Enhancements & Support:
Q3/22
- Upgraded analytics dashboard to provide users more visibility on API usage
- Uploaded videos about "How to build on a blockchain with Access Node"
- Launched IP whitelist, and origin whitelist feature to enhance user’s security when using the RPC services
Q4/22
- Wrote blog post to introduce Polkadot staking. In this post, RockX delves into the details of how staking Polkadot works, and why it's important for the success and growth of the Polkadot network. RockX will continue to -create new and educational content across the Polkadot ecosystem
- Launched maintenance notification dashboard to keep users informed as soon as possible on any blockchain upgrades
- Launched an incognito mode that will not store user’s IP address or browser information to further protect user's privacy
Our full report including data and links can be viewed here.
Comments (4)
Hi RockX, welcome to Polkadot! As a previous precedent, RPC infrastructure providers have requested funding from Polkadot for the Polkadot relay chain and all Polkadot common good parachain (and vice versa with Kusama). Common good parachains are those that are funded and allocated a slot by the Polkadot council - see more information here https://polkadot.network/blog/proposal-for-common-good-parachains. RPC Infrastructure providers have then sought funding from soverign parachain teams themselves for infrastructure investment funding, for example, Astar, Moonbeam, and Acala all have their own foundation and governance system that funds development of these networks and the RPC infrastructure on them. Your proposal strays from this historical precedent, and it might have some ramifications for how other RPC infrastructure teams seek funding for their services. It would be great to get some clarity from the council about this distinction
Hello,
thanks for putting up this proposal. As the fellow infrastructure provider in the Polkadot ecosystem, I think that Polkadot treasury should be be rather used for increasing the overall decentralization of our ecosystem rather than funding as many RPC providers as it can. In that spirit, I would love to see what is your HW setup, whether it is hosted or collocated, which data centers, etc.
I also think that parachain infrastructure funding should be provided by the parachains themselves with each having its own treasury and ability to decide how much of their infra should be run by the 3rd parties. So far, Polkadot treasury spending has been quite disconnected from the parachains economies (although there is currently a discussion that might change that) and there's an overall consensus that parachains should pay for the services dedicated solely to their network.