Free Public RPC infrastructure (Mainnet and Testnet) on independent/carbon-neutral data centers for Stellar/Soroban. 

RPCs are vital tools that enable the building of decentralized apps and projects. With our Free Public RPC infrastructure, developers can effortlessly execute smart contracts and build dApps on the Stellar/Soroban network.

Gateway.fm’s fully portable infrastructure can be deployed on bare metal/private data centers in any country (if needed). That will facilitate the development of digital currencies (CBDC) based on Stellar/Soroban Network.

Our infrastructure simplifies the building process and eliminates the single point of failure, resulting in a more robust and decentralized network. We are excited to offer this service to the blockchain development community and to contribute to the growth and advancement of the Stellar/Soroban blockchain.

Features:

• Mainnet and testnet public (Free) PRC endpoints (Rate limit: 155M requests per month for both mainnet and testnet per IP)
• Shared nodes and Dedicated nodes for enterprise clients
• On prem or private cloud
• Auto-scaling
• Fully automated/monitored
• Smart Proxy/ LB / Aggregator
• Deep Analytics
• Best in Class dedicated technical support (8-18CET) + 24/7 on pager duty for critical issues
• SLA 99.9%

Business Model:

1. Free RPC for Stellar developers and community up to 155M requests per month (or 60RPS)
2. Paid Shared nodes ($0.0000015/request) or dedicated nodes for enterprises customers (2 nodes ±$1k)

Success cases and validation from the partners

1. Erigon. Gateway.fm worked closely with the Erigon team on optimizing the TX pool and finishing the Withdrawals API. Some of our team members attended the Shanghai upgrade R&D workshop in January.Extended partnership for one more year.
2. Polygon zkEVM. Gateway.fm was the first one to go live with Polygon zkEVM Public RPC endpoints (6min or 120 blocks after the first transaction). More information: https://twitter.com/0xPolygon/status/1641158631197495296
3. Polygon Supernet. Gateway.fm has been chosen as an official implementation partner of Polygon Supernet. More information here: https://twitter.com/gateway_eth/status/1646132929087561728
4. Gnosis Chain. Gateway.fm runs 75% of public Gnosis RPC, and 50% of validators. More information here: https://forum.gnosis.io/t/gip-70-should-gnosisdao-pass-a-grant-proposal-to-partner-with-gateway-fm/6079
5. YAT. Gateway.fm provided a complete solution for a game project, including advising on user journey methodology, smart-contract execution, mechanics, and auditing on both Ethereum and Polygon. The project started in November 2021 and was successfully completed in March 2022.
6. LUKSO (blockchain Created by former Ethereum Developer Fabian Vogelsteller, known for developing ERC20 and ERC725, web3.js, and the Mist Browser). Gateway.fm has been chosen as an infrastructure partner to provide Public RPC services mainnet and testnet. Work in progress. ETA: June.

Marketing and promo

Dedicated webpage: We'll create a custom webpage (e.g. https://gateway.fm/gnosis-chain/ or https://gateway.fm/polygon/) to showcase our partnership with you and provide users with easy access to our services.

Social media campaigns: We'll run monthly campaigns on our social media channels to raise awareness about our partnership and reach new audiences.

Documentation: We'll share Stellar and Soroban documentation on Gateway.fm website, making it easy for developers to integrate with our RPC infrastructure. You'll be able to access this documentation on our website and GitHub repository.

Co-sponsored events: We're open to co-sponsoring hackathons, conferences, and other events with you to showcase our partnership and engage with the community. We can also issue joint press releases to announce new developments and collaborations. (Gnosis hackathon: https://twitter.com/encodeclub/status/1655633751974502413) 

Community engagement: Active participation in the community chats in Discord with direct support from gateway.fm team

How Free Public RPC from gateway.fm will help Stellar/Soroban

Decentralization is a critical component of the Stellar network's design, and reliable RPC infrastructure on independent data centers can help achieve this goal. By spreading the RPC infrastructure across multiple independent data centers, the network becomes less reliant on any one data center. This, in turn, reduces the risk of a single point of failure that could disrupt the network's functioning.

Reliable RPC infrastructure ensures network stability: RPC is a critical component of the Stellar network that allows developers and users to interact with the network. Reliable RPC infrastructure ensures network stability, which is essential for the smooth functioning of the network.

Faster transaction processing: Users and developers can enjoy faster transaction processing times, which can lead to a better user experience and increased adoption of the Stellar network.

Improved scalability: As more users and developers use the network, the demand for RPC services will increase. Having reliable RPC infrastructure in place can help handle this increased demand, ensuring that the network continues to function smoothly.

Increased developer productivity: Developers can benefit from reliable RPC infrastructure by reducing the time it takes to develop and test their applications. With reliable RPC infrastructure, developers can focus on building their applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Improved user experience: With faster transaction processing times and improved network stability, users can have a smoother experience when using the Stellar network.

Gateway.fm's focus on using carbon-neutral data centers aligns with Stellar's commitment to sustainability. Carbon-neutral data centers reduce the carbon footprint of the network, which is essential for the long-term sustainability of the blockchain industry.

1. Conduct initial infrastructure planning and design

2. Deploy infrastructure on independent data centers

What steps have you taken to complete it successfully?

Regarding the first deliverables for the Stellar grant program, Gateway.fm has made significant progress, with the completion of more than 10% of the overall project. However, please note that the work is still ongoing.

The team has accomplished the following milestones:

1. Researching RPC Node Operations: The Infrastructure team at Gateway.fm conducted thorough research on running an RPC node. This comprehensive exploration allowed us to gain a deep understanding of the necessary documentation, enabling us to create appropriate provision servers. The Infrastructure, Proxy, and QA teams worked together to distribute the workload effectively.
2. Server Provisioning: Gateway.fm successfully created and provisioned servers specifically designed to host Stellar nodes. These servers are crucial for establishing the public RPC for both the mainnet and testnet environments.
3. Deployment Pipelines for Stellar Nodes: To facilitate the deployment of Stellar nodes for the Soroban network, Gateway.fm developed and implemented efficient pipelines. These pipelines streamline the process and enhance the reliability of node deployment.
4. Deployment Job Configuration for Soroban: Gateway.fm has created a deployment job configuration tailored to Soroban, allowing seamless deployment within our European-based cluster. To optimize costs for users, we have chosen a private data center in Europe based on performance and pricing considerations. Initially, we will utilize two servers with robust monitoring capabilities. Following the completion of server deployment and configuration, the QA team at Gateway.fm will conduct comprehensive load testing. This involvesdifferent types of requests to determine the optimal number of services required to handle the anticipated load. For the testnet, we aim to support a load of 1000 requests per second (RPS), while for the mainnet, our target is to handle 4000 RPS. This thorough testing will ensure that the RPC system is capable of meeting the specified performance requirements.
5. Launch of the node: Our node is now available to the public via https://soroban-rpc.futurenet.stellar.dev.gateway.fm(rate limited @100rps)

curl -X POST 'https://soroban-rpc.futurenet.stellar.dev.gateway.fm' -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"method":"getLatestLedger","id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"id":"9e4873190ac62ee59258febf4aed4516cd4a0958cfeb637756f9a9487a544aa5","protocolVersion":"20","sequence":459286}}

As this RPC is not Ethereum-compatible, in order to create a multi-node scalable RPC endpoint, our proxy team would have to develop a Soroban-specific proxy application.

Gateway.fm remains committed to achieving the objectives outlined in the grant program (SCF #15) and will continue to provide updates on the progress of the project.

How can a reviewer check you completed your first deliverable?

Please find public Node via https://soroban-rpc.futurenet.stellar.dev.gateway.fm, the rate limit is 100RPS, so feel free to test it out.

Here is an example of the request with the correct response:

curl -X POST 'https://soroban-rpc.futurenet.stellar.dev.gateway.fm' -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"method":"getLatestLedger","id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'   {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"id":"9e4873190ac62ee59258febf4aed4516cd4a0958cfeb637756f9a9487a544aa5","protocolVersion":"20","sequence":459286}}

This successful response confirms the operability of our Soroban node, which is running the latest version of the protocol (version 20) and currently at sequence 459,286.

NOTE: As mentioned before, this RPC is not ethereum-compatible, in order to create multi-node scalable RPC endpoint, our proxy team would have to develop Soroban-specific proxy application.

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