The 10 Most Promising Actions You Can Take Now to Improve Chainlink Node Operations within a Month

We are sure you can attest to how difficult it is to excel in all areas as a Chainlink node operator.
However, keep in mind that you are just starting out and should capitalize on this edge over future competitors by becoming an expert in all key areas with the help of our cumulative insights to significantly improve the operation of your Chainlink nodes.

1. Policies for Workflows and Communication

Clearly defined policies and guidelines are a must have for every professionally structured work framework and should therefore be introduced or constantly adapted, regardless of the maturity of a company to boost Chainlink node reputation.

Define Areas of Responsibility and Communication Guidelines

The work as a Chainlink node operator consists largely of interactions with the Chainlink team. The integration of new networks, services or jobs requires a high level of reliability and accuracy from each participating node operator, which is why it is helpful to set clear guidelines for areas of responsibility, work processes and communication. Since immediate actions are often required, it should be clearly regulated who is responsible for monitoring the communication channels and implementing specific actions and when. This prevents unnecessarily long response times and conveys the professionalism of your own team to Chainlink.

Clear Documentation and Introduction of Routines

To implement this, team managers should set expectations and document each recurring process accordingly. These should be discussed and trained with the entire responsible team so that they become a safe routine as quickly as possible. If these workflows prove to work in day-to-day business and are carried out consistently, it will most likely increase the reputation of your Chainlink node.

2. Hiring High Potentials

One of LinkRiver’s top priorities has always been to eliminate potential single points of failure related to Chainlink node operations. At the technical level, many teams are very advanced in this regard, but in our opinion the human resources and options for action are not yet at the same level in many cases. Being the human single point of failure is a critical vulnerability that should be prevented through effective hiring as soon as possible.

A Challenge When Working in the Field of Revolutionary Technology

Web3 infrastructure is still a niche and technology is evolving at a rapid pace, Chainlink node environments can vary greatly in their architecture and consist of very specific components. It can quickly happen that you realize certain deployments or maintenance on your own and, due to the large number of ongoing tasks, you cannot keep up with the documentation and explanations to other team members. In order to avoid being the only person on the team who could master any critical situation, you should take care of hiring highly talented employees in a timely manner.

This is particularly essential with regard to availability requirements, since Chainlink node operators are expected to be able to act 24/7/365. The distribution of the team across different time zones is therefore a huge help in mastering this task in the long term. Since hiring in Web3 and the associated challenges must be well thought out and we have gained a lot of experience in it, we have written a complete blog post about it, which you can read here.

Communicate the Importance and Opportunities Clearly

It is almost impossible to find a “ready-made” employee who is fully trained in your field. Therefore, in our opinion, it is very important to find people who are inquisitive and receptive to be able to cope with this demanding task. It’s a rare chance for motivated people to get deep insights into the Web3 infrastructure business so early on and to join an existing team as a Chainlink node manager, if you find the right person it’s a great risk mitigation for the operations and an unparalleled addition to the skill set of the newly introduced person - a huge improvement of your Chainlink node operations.

3. Migrating to a More Optimal Hosting Environment

Hardware costs are a crucial factor in the operational expenses and thus the profitability of Chainlink node operators. With the rapid increase in new network and service integrations through the Chainlink network, the costs that its node operators have to bear for the operation of the additionally required infrastructure also increase accordingly. There are different hosting providers that differ greatly in their services and their pricing, so it is worth considering a migration of all or parts of the infrastructure to remain more scalable and competitive in the long term while boosting Chainlink node performance. Because this topic requires a wide range of considerations and would go beyond the scope of this article, we have dedicated a complete step-by-step guide to it by writing about the migration process of our infrastructure as an example.

4. Staying One Step Ahead of Possible Regulations

We are still at the beginning of the history of Web3, so there have been few regulations for it so far, depending on the jurisdiction both on a private and on a business level. Therefore, it is highly recommended to communicate proactively with the responsible authorities relevant to the company’s activities at all times, to invest resources in regulatory assessments by specified lawyers and to think ahead accordingly when making future-oriented decisions.

5. Establishing a Treasury Management Strategy

Due to the existing volatility of the crypto market, every Chainlink node operator should have a financial strategy in order to leave as little as possible to larger forces when building up company capital. In order not to keep the earned profits in a single asset (LINK) and thus expose yourself to a disproportionately high risk of losing capital to potential market downturns, it is advisable to diversify your assets. A possible practice is to exchange a certain percentage of profits for stable coins, but there are many different approaches. Due to the volatility of the crypto market and FIAT currencies, it’s a good hedge to hold various assets that have fundamentally sound characteristics and promise of long-term preservation of value.

6. Increasing the Geographic Distribution of Your Infrastructure

In times of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty of this magnitude, the dangers of widespread electricity and internet outages are becoming ever more real. In order not to fall victim to these risks, you should not only distribute your node infrastructure across different availability zones or regions in a country, but ideally aim for the widest possible geographical distribution. Of course, the failover systems should be able to step in automatically and be extensively tested in order to be prepared for an emergency.

7. Establishing an Infrastructure-as-Code Solution

Custom automation brings tremendous benefits to Chainlink node operators, such as saving resources and increasing efficiency, which we outline below in a nutshell.

Efficient Deployment

Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) automates the process of deploying Chainlink nodes and other crucial infrastructure and services, such as RPC nodes and External Adapters, ensuring consistency and minimizing human errors while reducing staff expenses.

Easy Configuration Management

Using an IaC solution allows smooth management of the entire infrastructure and streamlines repetitive tasks like applying updates or changing service configurations.

Enhance Scalability

Network requirements change frequently, IaC allows nodes to easily scale in response to circumstances and makes it easier to optimize resource utilization.

Improve Security

IaC helps maintain secure environments through automated enforcement of security policies and regular audits related to specific parts or the entire infrastructure.

Boost Collaboration

Version control and collaborative development become much more effective through the application of IaC measures, allowing Chainlink node operators to continuously share and refine infrastructure configurations.

Conclusion

Compared to environments that are managed without IaC, the named advantages tremendously lead to increased efficiency, reduced operational expenses, greater reliability and improvement of your Chainlink node operations in general.

8. Understanding the Chainlink Ecosystem down to the Smallest Detail

The Chainlink network already offers a variety of widely used services, which as such are technically complex and continuously further developed. Apart from these services, new, potentially even more disruptive ones are constantly being worked on. It can still happen that even as an experienced Chainlink node operator, you underestimate the full potential of the Chainlink ecosystem because you may not focus enough on understanding the individual services.

Since Chainlink services are decentralized and secured by nodes, the teams behind them should do their best to be absolute experts in their fields. This also means knowing every technical detail of each Chainlink service, getting a good overview of their existing and potential future users and fully recognizing the potential of the ecosystem in order to be an ambassador for it and to carry the message to the world. A must-read for every Chainlink node operator is Chainlink’s latest product update for Q2 2023, released by Kemal El Moujahid, Chief Product Officer at Chainlink Labs.

Here is a list of valuable resources that will also help you gain a complete in-depth understanding of all Chainlink services and thus improve Chainlink node operations:

• Chainlink Data Feeds

• Chainlink Functions

• Chainlink Automation

• Chainlink VRF

• Chainlink Proof Of Reserve

• Chainlink Cross-Chain Communication (CCIP)

• Chainlink Docs

9. Networking

Healthy competition is important, but it is repeatedly demonstrated how systems become stronger through the cooperation of its participants, which can also be applied appropriately to Chainlink node operators. Whether it’s exchanging technical best practices or brainstorming on how to implement new projects, it’s always beneficial to talk to like-minded people. It is and remains an important mantra of the Chainlink community, which their node operators should also heed: we’re all in this together.

10. Writing and Maintaining Detailed Documentation

One of the most underestimated and neglected practices is the consistent creation and maintenance of extensive documentation. You often only become aware of the urgency of this when it is too late, when you don’t remember certain steps or configurations and can no longer understand and reproduce them. Documentation not only helps enormously when training new employees, it saves valuable time and increases the value of a company immensely. It usually doesn’t take much time if you keep at it regularly, so we recommend starting today if you need to catch up in this regard.

We hope this post will help you boost your Chainlink node operations and we are excited to see which of the 10 actions you take on first. We believe information is power, and while we strive to provide as much valuable content as possible for free, there are certain aspects that require deeper insight and personalized attention. Our consulting services offer you the opportunity to work out suggestions for improvement tailored to your operations in direct conversation with the respective expert from our team in order to gain a competitive advantage. If you are interested in a consulting session, check out the following page we created for Chainlink node operators.

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