As the popularity of the Solana blockchain soars, so too has network congestion due to the increased demand for block space. Solana developers have taken steps to resolve these issues, releasing a beta update (v1.17.31) for their mainnet on April 12. After a three-day testing period, they’re now recommending its general usage to mainnet beta validators.
Included in this update is a series of enhancements designed to alleviate ongoing network congestion issues. Among the key upgrades are measures to improve how the network handles both staked and unstaked packets, more stringent management of streams for staked nodes, and adjustments to the BankingStage Forwarding Filter. These changes should bring immediate relief, and further improvements, expected in update v1.18, will continue to build on these improvements.
However, implementing the new upgrade needs to be carefully timed. Solana developer, Anza, advised validators to apply the latest patch when there’s less than a 5% delinquent stake, to avoid overloading the network. Delinquency refers to offline validators, and the 5% figure represents the total stakes for these inactive validators.
Solana’s congestion issues made headlines recently as the network’s transaction failure rate shot up to a significant 75% due to the spike in network activity, coupled with a surge in memecoin transactions. While this led to widespread inconvenience, Solana co-founder reclassified the problem as a bug rather than a profound network issue.
While these teething issues may cause temporary frustrations, the Solana Foundation is confident they remain on top of the situation. Austin Federa, their strategy lead, reassures users that their developers are working around the clock to address network demand, even if it’s currently outstripping their ability to introduce fixes. The Foundation’s proactive approach should instill confidence in its users and help secure Solana’s place as a leading blockchain platform.