Validator Roles and Responsibilities

Understanding what it means to operate a validator on Canton Network

Operating a validator on Canton Network comes with specific roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This page clarifies what’s expected of validators versus what the network handles.

The Validator’s Role

As a validator, you operate a participant node that:

1. Hosts parties for users and applications
2. Stores contract data for those parties
3. Validates transactions affecting your parties
4. Connects to the synchronizer for coordination
5. Exposes APIs for applications to interact with the ledger

What You Are Responsible For

Infrastructure Operations

• Node availability: Keep your validator running and connected
• Performance: Ensure adequate resources for your workload
• Upgrades: Stay current with network versions
• Monitoring: Track health, performance, and errors
• Backup: Regular backups of database and identity
• Security: Protect infrastructure, keys, and access

Party Management

• Onboarding: Create and manage parties on your validator
• Key management: Secure storage of party keys
• Access control: Control who can act as which parties
• Data custody: Your validator stores your parties’ data

Traffic (Transaction Fees)

• Canton Coin balance: Maintain sufficient CC for operations
• Top-ups: Replenish traffic when needed
• Cost management: Monitor and optimize traffic usage

What You Are NOT Responsible For

Handled by the Global Synchronizer

Function	Who Handles
Transaction ordering	Synchronizer sequencer
Confirmation aggregation	Synchronizer mediator
BFT consensus	Super Validators
Network parameters	CF governance
Upgrade coordination	CF and SVs

Trust Model

As a validator, you trust that:

• The synchronizer orders transactions fairly
• Super Validators maintain availability
• Network parameters are set appropriately
• Upgrades are coordinated properly

You do NOT need to:

• Run consensus nodes
• Verify all network transactions
• Participate in governance votes
• Operate synchronizer infrastructure

Operational Expectations

Availability

Expectation	Details
Uptime target	Plan for 99%+ availability
Planned maintenance	Coordinate during low-traffic periods
Incident response	Monitor and respond to issues

Your parties cannot transact while your validator is offline. Plan maintenance windows carefully and communicate with your users.

Version Currency

The network upgrades frequently. Validators must keep pace:

Timeframe	Action
As announced	Apply security patches
Before deadline	Major version upgrades (announced in advance)

Validators running outdated versions may be disconnected from the network. Monitor announcements and plan upgrade windows.

Communication

Stay connected with the network:

Channel	Purpose
#validator-operations	Slack channel for operational discussions
Mailing lists	lists.sync.global for announcements
Release notes	Track changes and requirements

Security Responsibilities

Your Security Scope

Asset	Your Responsibility
Validator infrastructure	Hardening, patching, access control
Party keys	Secure generation, storage, rotation
Database	Encryption, access control, backups
API access	Authentication, authorization, TLS
Network perimeter	Firewall, DDoS protection

Not Your Responsibility

Asset	Handled By
Synchronizer security	Super Validators
Protocol security	Canton/Splice development
Network-wide DoS protection	Synchronizer operators

Compliance Considerations

Depending on your jurisdiction and use case:

Consideration	Action
Data residency	Ensure validator location meets requirements
Audit requirements	Maintain logs and records
KYC/AML	Implement for your parties if required
Regulatory reporting	Build necessary capabilities

Canton’s privacy model helps with compliance by ensuring data stays with entitled parties. However, you remain responsible for your regulatory obligations.

Costs

Operating a validator involves several cost categories:

Infrastructure Costs

Infrastructure costs depend on your deployment method, cloud provider, and transaction volume. See Prerequisites for hardware sizing guidance. Use DevNet or TestNet to measure your actual resource consumption before estimating MainNet costs.

Component	Notes
Compute	Scales with hosted parties and transaction volume
Database	Scales with data volume; managed services (RDS, Cloud SQL) recommended
Network	Egress costs depend on traffic volume
Storage	Scales with ledger history retained

Network Costs

Cost	Description
Traffic fees	Canton Coin for transactions
Variable	Based on transaction volume and size

Operational Costs

Cost	Description
Personnel	Time for monitoring, upgrades, incidents
Tooling	Monitoring, logging, alerting

Support Resources

Community Support

Resource	Description
Slack	#validator-operations for peer support
Forum	forum.canton.network for technical questions
Documentation	This site

Commercial Support

Tier	Contact
Discretionary	[e-mail] (best effort)
SLA-based	[e-mail] (enterprise)

Becoming a Validator

Prerequisites

1. Technical capacity: Team capable of operating containerized services
2. Infrastructure: Meet infrastructure requirements
3. Sponsorship: Super Validator willing to sponsor
4. Canton Coin: Budget for traffic fees

Process

1. Contact a Super Validator (list at canton.foundation)
2. Discuss your use case and onboarding requirements
3. Prepare infrastructure according to requirements
4. Complete onboarding with sponsorship
5. Begin operations and maintain your node

Next Steps

Validator Setup

Begin deploying your validator node.

Infrastructure Requirements

Review detailed infrastructure requirements.