Firstly, we’re happy to be here among so many other tier 1 validators and in this epic community. Want to know more about us though?
Post a reply to the thread and give me a shout-out so we can answer all your questions. <3
- Entity name and location
You might be familiar with Republic, well there’s also a division called Republic Runtime. Same same, not different. Our goal is to aid in the decentralization of all foundational and emerging networks, so here we are. Good to meet you all!
- Infrastructure location
Your wish is our command… mostly. We can tailor the location to DyDx’s needs of course. We have quick access to almost all global regions and jurisdictions with the exception of Russia and mainland China.
- What kind of hardware do you run? Baremetal, cloud-based…? In what geographic regions?
Our infrastructure setup is carefully designed to ensure optimal performance, cost-effectiveness, and geographical reach. Some of our infrastructure providers are PNAP, OVH, WebNX, Host Hatch, Google Cloud (GCP), AWS, and other reputable providers, to offer a comprehensive range of hosting solutions.
In addition to bare metal servers, we also maintain accounts with GCP and AWS. This allows us to harness the benefits of cloud computing services when specific requirements or use cases demand their usage. With the flexibility and scalability provided by GCP and AWS, we can adapt our infrastructure to handle varying workloads and rapidly scale resources as needed.
Geographically, our infrastructure is strategically located in multiple regions to cater to our clients’ diverse needs. We have servers deployed in key locations across the United States, including the East and West coast, ensuring optimal coverage and reduced latency for our North American clients. In Europe, our servers are situated in central and western regions, specifically in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, to provide efficient access to our European clientele. Additionally, we have a strong presence in Asia, primarily in Singapore, enabling us to deliver fast and reliable services to our clients in the region.
- Technical make-up of the team (elaborate on no. of dev ops engineers, experience, etc.)
We have a highly skilled and versatile team of 4 soon to be 5 DevOps Systems Engineers who excel in various domains. With our diverse expertise, we offer a comprehensive set of services to ensure seamless operations and secure infrastructure for our clients. Our team consists of full-stack engineers, cybersecurity specialists, chain specialists, infrastructure specialists, and programming specialists, all working collaboratively to deliver exceptional results.
- Years of experience
Our team comprises a talented and experienced group of DevOps Systems Engineers with a combined experience of over 60 years. Each team member brings a unique skill set and expertise to the table, enabling us to provide a wide range of services and solutions to meet our clients’ needs.
- What other networks are you running validators for?
In totality, delegators have entrusted us with over $500M in crypto assets. We should be moving steadily towards a $1bn delegation easily by the end of the year with several contracts that are in the pipeline making Republic Runtime one of the largest validators on the block.
- Cosmos
- Avalanche, and Avalanche subnets
- Polygon, and Polygon supernets
- Aptos
- Sui
- Near
- BNB (Greenfield)
- Regen
- Neutron
- Cere
- Canto
- BlockX
- Lava
- Tenet
7 . Based on your participation in any previous testnets, mainnets, are there any best practices to be aware of? What are some things that made previous testnets, mainnet launches successful and/or things to avoid that have gone poorly?
We’ve been very successful in our rollouts, especially within incentivized testnets. We ranked 2nd in the Aptos incentivized testnet and have one of the largest delegations thanks to that. Our previous work with Avalanche extends prior to running infrastructure as Republic has been an advisor to growth of the ecosystem. This also extends to Polygon and the work we’ve done to help them grow. Our participation stretches across multiple fields, and providing reliable, secure infrastructure is foundational for that.
• Extensive Monitoring: Implementing robust monitoring systems is crucial for identifying and addressing issues promptly. This includes monitoring network health, node performance, resource usage, and security metrics, as well as monitoring the validator set with an alerts system in place so we can effectively communicate any issues.
• Effective Communication: This includes providing regular status updates, sharing detailed release notes, and maintaining transparent communication channels to address queries and concerns. Engaging with the community and providing support promptly to foster trust and confidence.
• Advance Notice for Changes: Whenever possible, we provide ample advance notice for upcoming changes, especially those that may impact network participants. Allowing more than one day’s notice enables participants from different time zones to receive and react to the information. This practice promotes fairness and ensures that participants have sufficient time to prepare and adapt to any required actions.
• Clear Guidance and Documentation: We do our best to accompany updates and changes with clear and concise instructions to guide participants through the process. We document best practices, configuration guidelines, and troubleshooting steps to assist users in resolving common issues independently. This helps streamline the onboarding process and reduces the burden on support teams.
• Quality Assurance (QA) Checks: Obviously, it is critical to conduct thorough QA testing on software releases before deployment. This includes validating configuration files, ensuring compatibility, and performing comprehensive testing across different environments. Learning from instances of other chains that have released files with incorrect config files, it is crucial to avoid releasing updates with invalid or incorrect configurations that may disrupt network operations.
• Continual Improvement: We work to emphasize a culture of continuous improvement by actively seeking feedback from the community, monitoring system performance, and incorporating lessons learned into future releases. Regularly evaluate and refine processes, address pain points, and implement enhancements to enhance the overall stability and user experience of the network.
- Do you have a validator voting framework and process?
We can vote on any governance proposals needed. The team is moving forward with new ideas internally on how to create best practices around governance proposals with alerts and internal conversations with how to best respond to each new proposal. It’s important to handle each and every proposal with the weight it deserves.
- Are you planning to play any additional roles in the network’s ecosystem (e.g. market maker, trader, indexer, front-end, other)?
We are interested in taking on additional roles in DyDx’s ecosystem to further contribute to its growth and development. Some of the roles we are considering include hosting RPC services and providing comprehensive documentation for chains. We also plan to set up public Grafana dashboards to offer transparency and real-time insights into the network’s performance. Additionally, we are exploring the idea of open-sourcing our Ansible deployments, which would enable others to benefit from our infrastructure automation processes.
- Are there other products or services you want to highlight that could be relevant for the network?
Republic as a parent company has brought in over $5.5bn in investments to more than 4,000 early stage companies in both Web2 and Web3 with more than 2.5m investors. There are multiple divisions Republic Retail, Republic Capital, and Republic Crypto which extend out the offerings Republic as a parent company can provide.
Republic Group has invested in more than 600 companies totaling $1.5bn+ in AUM. Out of those 600, 29 of them have reached unicorn status with investments in Web2 like SpaceX, Carta, Robinhood and in the Web3 space in projects like Blockdaemon, Dapper Labs, Polygon, 1inch and more.
Republic Advisory Services range from providing clients with assistance in tokenomics, capital support, business development, growth & marketing, NFT strategies, token offerings, and infrastructure services. With over 50 clients ranging from Avalanche, DappRadar, to Zed Run, Republic has brought a team of over 40 to help ecosystems reach their peak success. We do the same anytime we engage with networks who decide to delegate with us as well and look forward to joining the DyDx validator set! To infinity and beyond!