Key concepts
Distributed validator
A distributed validator, operating within Ethereum's proof-of-stake framework, operates on multiple nodes or machines. This capability is made achievable through the implementation of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT).
Distributed validator technology effectively diminishes certain vulnerabilities associated with validation. In the event that fewer than 33% of the nodes participating in a distributed validator cluster experience downtime, the remaining operational nodes can still reach a consensus on transaction signing and generate valid signatures for their staking responsibilities. This concept is recognized as "Active/Active redundancy," a well-established practice for reducing downtime in mission-critical systems.
Distributed Validator Key
A distributed validator key is a group of BLS private keys, that together operate as a threshold key for participating in proof of stake consensus.
Distributed Validator Key Share
One piece of the distributed validator private key.
Distributed Validator Threshold
The number of nodes in a cluster that needs to be online and honest for their distributed validators to be online is outlined in the following table.
| Cluster Size | Threshold | Note |
|---|---|---|
4 | 3/4 | Minimum threshold |
5 | 4/5 | |
6 | 4/6 | Minimum to tolerate two offline nodes |
7 | 5/7 | Minimum to tolerate two malicious nodes |
8 | 6/8 | |
9 | 6/9 | Minimum to tolerate three offline nodes |
10 | 7/10 | Minimum to tolerate three malicious nodes |
Distributed Validator Key Generation Ceremony
To achieve fault tolerance in a distributed validator, the individual private key shares need to be generated together. Rather than have a trusted dealer produce a private key, split it and distribute it, the preferred approach is to never construct the full private key at any point, by having each operator in the distributed validator cluster participate in what is known as a Distributed Key Generation ceremony.
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