The Nimbus book
This book focuses on our consensus layer client. If you're eager to get started, check out our quickstart guide.
Nimbus is a client implementation for both the consensus layer
(eth2) and execution layer
(eth1) that strives to be as lightweight as possible in terms of resources used. This allows it to perform well on embedded systems, resource-restricted devices -- including Raspberry Pis and mobile devices.
However, resource-restricted hardware is not the only thing Nimbus is good for. Its low resource consumption makes it an excellent choice to pair with an execution client and makes it easy to run together with other workloads on your server, lowering the total cost.
"just because it [Nimbus] is optimized to be minimally resource intensive, doesn't mean you can't run it on a server. It means that when you do run it on a server, it is consuming a lot less resources." https://t.co/F2sdZouBtD
— Nimbus (@ethnimbus) March 30, 2021
This book explains the ways in which you can use Nimbus to either monitor the beacon chain or become a fully-fledged validator.
N.B. The reality is that we are very early in the eth2 validating life cycle. Validating is not for everyone yet, and it comes with both risks and responsibilities. It isn't a particularly easy way to make money. You'll need to put effort into updating your software, researching hard-forks, having a robust setup... . As such, you should only stake if you are genuinely interested in securing the protocol.
⚠️ The Merge is happening soon! Bookmark our merge readiness page to stay on top of how you need to prepare.
Helpful resources
- nimbus-eth2 repository
- eth2 specification
- Ben Edgington's annotated spec
- Vitalik's annotated spec
- Danny Ryan's annotated spec
Get in touch
Need help with anything? Join us on Status and Discord.
Donate
If you'd like to contribute to Nimbus development:
- Our donation address is
0x70E47C843E0F6ab0991A3189c28F2957eb6d3842
- We're also listed on GitCoin
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Disclaimer
This documentation assumes Nimbus is in its ideal state. The project is still under active development. Please submit a Github issue if you come across a problem.