Understanding Benchmarking

As a Tangle Network operator, you should understand how the network benchmarks your system to determine pricing for blueprints. This guide explains the automated benchmarking process and how it affects the quotes generated for your node.

What is Blueprint Benchmarking?

Blueprint benchmarking is an automated process that measures your system’s capabilities to determine:

The cost to run specific blueprints on your node
The resource allocation for different blueprint types
Your node’s competitive position in the operator marketplace

When users request quotes from your node, Tangle’s pricing engine uses these benchmark results to calculate fair prices based on your hardware profile.

How Benchmarking Works

The benchmarking process happens automatically in two key phases:

1. During Operator Registration

When you register as an operator, the Tangle Network automatically runs baseline benchmarks on your system:

Your node’s hardware capabilities are measured
A baseline profile is created for your specific hardware
This profile is stored by blueprint ID in the network
The profile is used whenever quotes are requested from your node

2. During Blueprint Execution

While blueprints run on your node, the system automatically monitors resource usage:

Measurements are taken before blueprint execution starts
Ongoing monitoring occurs during blueprint runtime
Final measurements capture the state after completion
This data can be used for future pricing calculations

Resources That Are Automatically Measured

The benchmarking system automatically collects metrics on these key resources:

Resource	What’s Measured Automatically	Why It Matters
CPU	Utilization, Available cores, Performance	Primary factor in blueprint execution speed
Memory	Available RAM, Usage patterns	Determines capacity for complex operations
Storage	Available space, Read/write speeds	Affects data processing capabilities
Network	Connection quality, Bandwidth	Impacts communication performance
GPU	Utilization, Memory (when applicable)	Important for specialized workloads

These metrics are relevant to the Pricing Configuration used by the network:

# Minimal example of how metrics map to pricing
[blueprint.resources]
cpu = { count = 8, price_per_unit = "0.001" }
memory = { count = 16384, price_per_unit = "0.00005" }
storage = { count = 1024000, price_per_unit = "0.00002" }

How Benchmarking Affects Your Node’s Quotes

The benchmark results directly influence how the pricing engine generates quotes:

When a user requests a blueprint quote from your node, the system retrieves your benchmark profile
It applies the blueprint’s resource requirements to your profile
It calculates the quote using this formula:

Quote = Base Resource Cost × Time Multiplier × Security Commitment Factor

Where:

Base Resource Cost: Derived from your node’s benchmarking results
Time Multiplier: Adjusts cost based on how long the service will run
Security Commitment Factor: Based on the asset security commitments required by the request

Example Scenario

For example, when a user requests a blueprint using 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, and 50GB storage for 24 hours, the pricing engine might calculate the following (note that these values are examples and do not necessarily reflect real costs):

CPU: 2 cores × $0.00001 per core-second × 24 hours (in blocks) = $4.32
Memory: 4096 MB × $0.000005 per MB-second × 24 hours (in blocks) = $1.024
Storage: 51200 MB × $0.000002 per MB-second × 24 hours (in blocks) = $0.512

Base Resource Cost = $6.256

The final quote would then be adjusted based on network conditions and security requirements.

Viewing Benchmark Information

Depending upon the service or blueprint being run, you may have information or metrics available to view. This will be accessible where you submitted your request and job, but it will depend upon the blueprint in question.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to manually run benchmarks?
A: No, the benchmarking process is fully automated. It runs during registration and periodically thereafter.

Q: Can I improve my benchmark scores?
A: While you can’t directly modify the benchmarking process, upgrading your hardware or optimizing your system can indirectly improve your node’s performance.

Q: How often are benchmarks updated?
A: Benchmarks are initially created during registration and may be updated periodically or when significant system changes are detected.

Q: Do benchmark results affect which jobs I receive?
A: Yes, users may choose operators based partly on performance metrics derived from benchmarks.

To learn more about operating on the Tangle Network, you may want to review:

Understanding the benchmarking process helps you better appreciate how the Tangle Network determines pricing for blueprints running on your node.

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