Pipe Network has officially launched SolanaCDN, a free, open-source validator client with an integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN) acceleration layer designed to significantly enhance the performance of the Solana blockchain. Announced on February 26, 2026, the client is built as a fork of Anza's Agave validator software and is provided as a public good for the entire Solana ecosystem.
The core innovation addresses a critical network performance issue: validator rewards on Solana are heavily influenced by geographical proximity to block producers. Validators in less connected regions suffer from slower data (shred) propagation, leading to missed votes and reduced revenue. SolanaCDN solves this by creating a parallel fast lane alongside the native gossip protocol. It routes shreds and vote packets through Pipe's global mesh of over 35,000 Point-of-Presence (PoP) nodes, which continuously measures network paths to select the fastest available route in real-time.
The performance gains are substantial. According to the announcement, SolanaCDN delivers 3.8 times faster propagation than the standard Turbine protocol, reducing the P50 cross-region latency to approximately 78 milliseconds from a baseline of roughly 300 milliseconds. The client also includes several built-in optimizations such as Fast Shreds for leaders, faster snapshot downloads, and real-time progress tracking during validator catchup.
David Rhodus, CEO of Pipe Network, emphasized the project's ethos: "Validator performance shouldn't be determined by geography. SolanaCDN gives every validator access to the same fast infrastructure. The more validators that run it, the faster Solana gets for everyone." The client is designed as a drop-in replacement, with the optional CDN layer activated by a single configuration flag. It is non-consensus and fail-safe, meaning validators continue operating normally even if the CDN layer is unavailable.
SolanaCDN is available immediately, with its source code published on GitHub and ready for deployment on Solana mainnet-beta. The launch represents a significant infrastructure upgrade aimed at improving network decentralization, finalization speed, and overall reliability by mitigating the advantages of geographical location.
