The Solana network faced a slowdown in block production in Feb. 25 after upgrading the validator software. The incident caused disruptions in transactions and led validators to downgrade their software in an effort to restore network performance.
The technical problems started around 6:00 AM (UTC), leading the validator to downgrade to version 1.13 in an attempt to restore transactions on the network. The downgrade, however, was not enough to restore Solana to normal operation, forcing the decision to restart the network in v1.13.6.
The Solana network is now restarting after an issue during the upgrade from 1.13 to 1.14 that reduced block finalization.
Once a validator with 80% stake has restarted, the network will resume
You can track the restart progress here: https://t.co/HclrUqWQ2y
— Solana Compass (@SolanaCompass) February 25, 2023
“The network experienced a significant crash in block production that coincided with an upgrade to the validator software. Engineers are still conducting a root cause analysis,” noted the Solana compass website.
Related: Solana State: Will layer-1 protocol rise again in 2023?
The issue is related to the upgrade from 1.13 to 1.14, which reduces block finalization. The Solana network is now restarted, and to continue operations it needs 80% active shares online:
“When more validators restart, this number will increase in line with the number of shares that have been delegated: this means that larger validators such as CEX have a big impact on restarts.”
A solution to the incident was discussed among Solana validators within hours of the issue. Infrastructure provider Chorus One noted on Twitter that the incident “demonstrates how decentralized the network is.” Chorus One continues:
“Without all these debates, we would have been back in an hour. However, every decision along the way – whether to go down, whether to restart, when switching from a down approach to a restart approach – was debated. Voting happened. It took 8-10 hours to recover, instead of 1.”
Solana is an open source layer-1 blockchain. The third-generation network architecture is designed to facilitate smart contracts and the creation of decentralized applications (DApps). The Solana blockchain was launched during the ICO boom of 2017. The project’s internal testnet was released in 2018, followed by several testnet phases before the official mainnet launch in 2020.