Google unveils Blockchain Node Engine for Web3 developers

Blockchains consist of transaction data that is permanently stored and encrypted, acting as a kind of decentralized database. Rather than relying on a central entity to validate and store data, the governing infrastructure of a blockchain is a node—a device, such as a computer, laptop, or server, that contains a complete copy of the transaction history of the blockchain. Nodes on a blockchain form a peer-to-peer network, constantly exchanging the latest blockchain data so that all nodes remain in sync.

While self-managed nodes are often difficult to deploy and require constant management, Blockchain Node Engine is a fully managed node hosting service that can minimize the need for node operations. Web3 companies that need dedicated nodes can relay transactions, deploy smart contracts, and read or write blockchain data with the reliability, performance, and security they expect from Google Cloud computing and network infrastructure.

Ethereum will be the first blockchain supported by the Blockchain Node Engine, which enables developers to provide fully managed Ethereum nodes with secure blockchain access.

With the Blockchain Node Engine, Web3 organizations enjoy the following benefits:

Streamlined provisioning – Today, manually deploying a node is a time-consuming process that involves provisioning a data instance, installing an Ethereum client (eg geth), and waiting for the node to sync with the network. Syncing a full node from the first block (ie “genesis”) can take several days. Google Cloud’s Blockchain Node Engine can make this process faster and easier by allowing developers to deploy a new node with a single operation, specifying the desired region and network (mainnet, testnet).

Secure Development – Customers looking to secure their blockchain infrastructure currently have a limited set of options in the market. The Blockchain Node Engine offers security configurations that can help prevent unauthorized access to the nodes. By placing nodes behind a Virtual Private Cloud firewall, only trusted machines and users are able to communicate with client endpoints. In addition, other Google Cloud services such as Cloud Armor can help protect nodes from DDoS attacks.

Fully managed operations – Ensuring that blockchain infrastructure is ready and available usually means having a DevOps team available to monitor the system and fix issues during a power outage. Blockchain Node Engine is a fully managed service, which can mean you don’t have to worry about availability. Google Cloud actively monitors the nodes and restarts them during power outages as needed. By reducing the need for a dedicated DevOps team, and by offering Google Cloud’s service level agreement (SLA), Blockchain Node Engine allows your team to focus on your users instead of your infrastructure.

Scaling Web3 Innovation

We look forward to supporting organizations with a reliable, easy-to-use blockchain node hosting service so they can focus their time on innovating and scaling their Web3 applications.