Cardano has announced the launch of dynamic peer-to-peer (P2P) networking, which is set to come today. The team claims that it will revolutionize the network’s performance, resilience, and decentralization. With the release of node v.1.35.6, network participants can test automatic node communication without static configurations. 

Dynamic P2P enables enhanced communication between distributed nodes and simplifies the process of running a relay or a block-producing node. This eliminates the need for static configurations and manual stake pool operators’ input.

IOG and CF teams, together with the SPO community, will be assessing network connectivity over the next few weeks to ensure a smooth rollout of Dynamic P2P functionality.

Cardano’s networking protocols combine nodes and their interactions into a unified system using standard communication infrastructure. There are two ways to configure a Cardano node: as a block-producing node responsible for producing blocks on the Cardano blockchain or as a relay node responsible for communicating with other relays in the network and broadcasting blocks from block-producing nodes.

Dynamic P2P automates the connectivity of SPO relays to each other through self-discovery and optimization, removing the need for static configuration and manual SPO maintenance. It makes the network more performant and resilient to changes such as node or routing failures and also streamlines the flow of information between thousands of distributed nodes.

P2P doesn’t just automate the selection of the static configuration, it is more dynamic than that. In a Dynamic P2P setup, SPOs can target to configure 20 connections, which can be picked from thousands of SPO relays, not just 50.

P2P also allows for more sophisticated configurations for direct peering arrangements between SPOs, and it optimizes the selection of peers to minimize the overall diffusion time in the whole network.