Pipe Network Launches SolanaCDN: a Built-in Acceleration Capable, Free and Open Source Solana Validator Client

On February 26, 2026, SolanaCDN achieved a 3.8x faster shred propagation speed through a global mesh network of over 35,000 nodes, opening as public infrastructure to the entire Solana network.

Pipe Network today announced the official launch of SolanaCDN — a free, open-source Solana validator client with a built-in CDN acceleration layer. This client is built as a fork of Anza's Agave client, allowing all Solana validators to leverage Pipe Network's global network of 35,000+ PoP (Point of Presence) nodes for faster shred propagation.

This client and its CDN acceleration layer are completely free. Pipe Network provides SolanaCDN as a public good to the Solana ecosystem.

What Does SolanaCDN Solve?

In the Solana network, validator performance is heavily influenced by network geography. Validators close to the block producer receive shreds earlier, complete votes faster, and thus earn higher rewards. Validators in poorly connected regions, even with similar hardware conditions, often miss votes due to propagation delays, leading to reduced leader slot rewards.

SolanaCDN addresses this issue by providing validators with a high-speed propagation path independent of the native gossip. Shreds and vote packets are routed through Pipe's global mesh network simultaneously, which continuously measures latency across all network paths and dynamically selects the fastest path for transmission.

The native gossip mechanism still operates as usual. SolanaCDN adds a parallel "highway" on top of it.

Performance Metrics

Compared to the standard Turbine, SolanaCDN offers a 3.8x improvement in propagation speed. In a cross-regional scenario, its P50 latency is approximately 78 milliseconds, while the baseline latency of standard gossip is around 300 milliseconds.

Additionally, even without the CDN acceleration layer enabled, the client comes with several Pipe Network proprietary optimizations integrated by default, including:

Leader-Oriented Optimized Shred Merge Mechanism (Fast Shreds)

Snapshot Downloads over the Pipe Global Network

Real-time ETA for Recovery Progress Displayed during Validator Catchup

Public Infrastructure Attributes

The faster propagation speed itself exhibits a network effect. With each additional validator running SolanaCDN, global shred delivery efficiency is enhanced, leading to faster block finalization, fewer forks, and lower network-wide slot loss.

David Rhodus, CEO of Pipe Network, stated, "Validator performance should not be determined by geographic location. SolanaCDN enables every validator to access the same high-speed infrastructure. The more validators running it, the faster the entire Solana network becomes."

Technical Design

SolanaCDN is a fully compatible version of the Agave fork and can serve as a plug-and-play alternative for existing validator clients.

The CDN acceleration layer is an optional feature that only requires a configuration parameter to enable.

This design does not participate in consensus and will not modify block production, consensus logic, leader scheduling, or voting rules.

All CDN operations are non-blocking and feature fault-tolerant mechanisms.

Even if the CDN layer is unavailable, validators can function normally without any impact.

The client includes a Prometheus metrics system and provides data on CDN and gossip propagation speed, helping operators assess performance changes in their environment clearly.

Availability

SolanaCDN is now officially live. The source code has been open-sourced on GitHub, and the client can run directly on the Solana mainnet-beta.

About Pipe Network

Pipe Network is a global edge infrastructure company built on Solana. Its network has deployed 35,000+ ultra-localized PoP nodes worldwide, offering distributed storage, fast retrieval, and real-time data transfer services.

The Pipe overlay network will monitor the latency, packet loss, and jitter of each path in real time, and will always route traffic to the currently fastest transmission path.

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