Subnets

A subnet is a deployed instance of a checker protocol

Checker protocols can measure many different services level criteria. Uptime, latency & time to first byte (TTFB), retrievability of data, availability of chain state, bandwidth, geolocation. These are just the obvious ones. There are many more around which web3 networks will want to demonstrate that they meet certain levels of service.

There are also many different Web3 networks that can be checked.

A Checker subnet can be as simple as one check on one network. For example, a subnet can be performing uptime checking on Arweave nodes. A subnet can also be performing a check on multiple networks. For example, a subnet can be performing bandwidth checks on nodes in 10 different networks. A subnet can even be performing multiple checks on multiple networks. For example, uptime, latency and retrievability checks across all decentralised storage networks.

The key factor when deciding the extent of a single subnet is the incentives. For example, the Spark subnet measures retrievability and latency of Filecoin retrievals since the builders of Spark found an opportunity to create value in the Filecoin ecosystem by creating data around Filecoin retrievability.

What does the Checker Network offer to each subnet?

The subnets are the part of the Checker Network that are realising the value. The Checker Network offers:

1. A network of 65k+ checkers onto which the checker subnet client code can be deployed
2. The security modules to make sure the checks are secure and fraud proof.
1. IPv4 /24 subnet restrictions
2. Checker reputation
3. Honest majority consensus
4. Randomisation of checker tasks with Drand
3. The payment rails for checkers, builders and providers.

We will go into more detail on the incentives in the next page.

On this page

• Subnets
• What does the Checker Network offer to each subnet?