Open-Source Servers Optimized for Web3 Endpoints vs Ethereum API vs RPC Solana: Picking the Right Stack

Startup and enterprise leaders need a pragmatic way to choose between open‑source node servers and RPC stacks on Ethereum and Solana. This guide gives you concrete build recipes, latest client capabilities, and production pitfalls so you can ship reliable Web3 endpoints with predictable cost and latency.

Summary: A decision framework and hands‑on patterns for when to run open‑source servers (Geth/Erigon/Reth, Agave/Jito), when to buy managed RPC, and how to tune Ethereum JSON‑RPC vs Solana RPC for scale, correctness, and cost.

TL;DR for decision‑makers

If you primarily need EVM smart‑contract reads/writes and on‑chain provenance: run an Ethereum execution client (Reth or Erigon for high‑throughput RPC; Geth for broad compatibility) paired with a consensus client; front it with an API gateway that enforces method allow‑lists and rate limits. Add tracing only where needed to avoid archive‑grade costs. (ethereum.org)
If you need ultra‑low latency order flow or account‑graph analytics: on Solana, deploy an RPC node with account indexes, add Geyser gRPC or Jito ShredStream for live feeds, and optionally peer for stake‑weighted QoS to raise inclusion odds during congestion. (docs.solanalabs.com)

The rest of this post shows exactly how.

Part 1 — What “Ethereum API” and “Solana RPC” actually expose

Ethereum: JSON‑RPC with a formal spec and CL–EL split

Ethereum clients expose JSON‑RPC 2.0 with a standardized set of methods (eth_, net_, web3_) defined via the Execution API/OpenRPC spec and EIP‑1474; consensus (Beacon) and execution are separate processes communicating over the Engine API with JWT auth on port 8551. For production you must run both, or connect your EL to a remote CL. (github.com)
Post‑Dencun (EIP‑4844), blocks carry blob_gas_used and excess_blob_gas, and transactions of type 0x03 may include max_fee_per_blob_gas and blob_versioned_hashes. Expect these fields via block methods; pricing can be read inside contracts with the new BLOBBASEFEE opcode (0x4a). (eips.ethereum.org)

Why it matters: budget for an execution client plus a consensus client, and plan for blob‑aware fee estimation if you interact with L2 data availability.

Solana: JSON‑RPC + PubSub, account‑centric semantics

Solana nodes expose HTTP JSON‑RPC on 8899 and PubSub WebSockets on 8900; commitment levels (“finalized”, “confirmed”, “processed”) determine finality semantics of your read. (solana.com)
Key methods that shape app behavior:
- getLatestBlockhash + lastValidBlockHeight to keep your transactions fresh. (solana.com)
- getRecentPrioritizationFees to price priority fees by hotspot accounts (localized fee markets). (solana.com)
- getMultipleAccounts and getProgramAccounts, with filters and dataSlice to cut payload size; enable account indexes server‑side for speed. (solana.com)

Why it matters: Solana performance hinges on account access patterns and priority fees, not global gas. Your RPC topology should reflect this.

Part 2 — Open‑source servers for Ethereum endpoints

You’ll pick an execution client based on RPC throughput, storage, and features; then pair it with a consensus client (Lighthouse, Teku, Prysm, Nimbus, Lodestar) via the Engine API and a shared JWT secret. (ethereum.org)

Reth (Rust, high‑throughput, modern storage)

Status: production‑ready 1.0 released; targets “blazing‑fast” sync/RPC with archive size ~2–2.8 TB and full node ~1.2 TB as of 2025/2026. (paradigm.xyz)
Why choose it: fast RPC path, efficient DB, strong developer velocity. Emerging: “Ress” stateless mode (proof‑of‑concept) can validate with ~14 GB disk using witnesses from peers—promising for specialized infra. (paradigm.xyz)
Operational note: default Engine API at 8551 with JWT; enable HTTP/WS only as needed and restrict APIs. (reth.rs)

Erigon (Go, staged sync, separate RPC daemon)

Architecture: run the modular rpcdaemon in‑process or as a separate service (local/remote) over Erigon’s private gRPC for isolation and scale. Tunables include rpc.batch.concurrency and db.read.concurrency. (docs.erigon.tech)
APIs: eth, debug, trace, txpool, GraphQL, and Erigon‑specific namespaces; handy OTS methods for Otterscan. (docs.erigon.tech)
Storage footprint guidance: ~920 GB full, ~1.77 TB archive on Ethereum mainnet (Sep 2025 figures). (docs.erigon.tech)

Geth (Go, reference implementation, broad compatibility)

Strengths: stability, rich debug tracers, GraphQL endpoint per EIP‑1767 for multi‑field reads in one query; but heavy debug/trace calls can be expensive. (geth.ethereum.org)
Disk and pruning reality: snap‑synced full nodes >650 GB with ~14 GB/week growth; offline prune resets usage; don’t expose Engine API publicly. (geth.ethereum.org)

Nethermind (C#, extensible RPC modules)

Offers OpenEthereum‑style trace_* endpoints (trace_filter, trace_block, etc.), which some analytics/forensics depend on; JSON‑RPC modules are pluggable and enable‑only. (docs.nethermind.io)

Best‑fit summary

Highest RPC QPS per core or modern features: Reth or Erigon.
Broadest tooling compatibility, GraphQL: Geth.
Heavy tracing or custom RPC modules: Nethermind.

Part 3 — Open‑source servers for Solana endpoints

Agave (Solana Labs/Anza fork) validator/RPC

Baseline hardware: 12–16 cores+, 256–512 GB RAM for RPC with account indexes; NVMe for accounts and ledger; 1–10 Gbit/s networking. (docs.solanalabs.com)
Enable account‑index for real‑world RPC workloads (getProgramAccounts, token queries): program‑id, spl-token-owner, spl-token-mint. (docs.solanalabs.com)

Geyser gRPC plugins (Yellowstone family)

Use a Geyser plugin to stream slots/blocks/tx/account updates with millisecond‑level latency versus polling JSON‑RPC; multiple vendors and open implementations exist (rpcpool/yellowstone‑grpc, connectors, managed providers). (github.com)

Jito extensions (for low‑latency trading and inclusion odds)

ShredStream provides near‑real‑time block shreds; Block Engine “sendBundle” gives atomic, ordered bundles with tip accounts; useful for MEV or coordinated multi‑tx actions. (docs.jito.wtf)

Stake‑weighted QoS (SWQoS)

Leaders can prioritize traffic tunneled through staked validators; configure a trusted RPC–validator pair using staked‑nodes‑overrides and rpc‑send‑transaction‑tpu‑peer to gain a priority lane for inclusion during congestion. (solana.com)

Part 4 — Concrete build recipes

A) High‑throughput Ethereum read API for product analytics

Stack
- Execution client: Erigon with rpcdaemon out‑of‑process to isolate heavy reads and open only needed namespaces (eth, net, web3; add debug/trace on a separate pool). (docs.erigon.tech)
- Consensus client: Lighthouse/Teku on same host or VLAN, Engine API via JWT on 8551 only; never expose 8551 publicly. (ethereum.org)
- Front: HAProxy/Envoy with connection reuse, per‑method allow‑lists, response caching for eth_chainId, gasPrice, etc.; throttle eth_getLogs wildcards.
Tuning
- rpcdaemon: set --rpc.batch.concurrency and --db.read.concurrency according to CPU/IO; disable compression when CPU‑bound. (github.com)
- Geth fallback: enable GraphQL for multi‑field reads to replace multiple JSON‑RPC calls when compatible. (geth.ethereum.org)
Why it works: you get low p95s for batched reads and can quarantine trace/debug to protect core traffic.

B) Ethereum write path for DeFi: blob‑aware, safe/finalized‑aware

Ensure your fee estimator accounts for EIP‑4844 blob base fee and includes max_fee_per_blob_gas for data‑availability txs; expose eth_maxPriorityFeePerGas for wallets. Contracts can read BLOBBASEFEE (0x4a) if they need to price on‑chain. (eips.ethereum.org)
Use “safe”/“finalized” block tags where consistency matters (e.g., settlement bots) to avoid reorg surprises. (ethereum.org)
Keep tracing off the hot path. If you must, dedicate Nethermind or Geth nodes for debug_traceTransaction/trace_* to avoid degrading writes. (geth.ethereum.org)

C) Solana consumer app: fast reads, predictable sends

Stack
- RPC node with account indexes enabled for your programs/owners; RAM ≥ 256–512 GB. (docs.solanalabs.com)
- Add Geyser gRPC for subscriptions to account/tx events; feed analytics or notifications in real‑time. (github.com)
Client patterns
- Prefer getMultipleAccounts over N single getAccountInfo calls; use dataSlice with base64 encoding to reduce payload; avoid jsonParsed on hot paths. (solana.com)
- Price priority fees via getRecentPrioritizationFees scoped to the exact writable accounts you’ll touch (localized market). (solana.com)
- Simulate transactions with simulateTransaction and replaceRecentBlockhash for accurate CU/logs before sending. (solana.com)
Congestion overlays
- If inclusion is critical, peer with a staked validator for SWQoS (trusted relationship) or route sends to a Jito Block Engine “sendBundle” with a small randomized tip; maintain the standard RPC path as a fallback. (solana.com)

D) Solana low‑latency trading infra

Add Jito ShredStream proxies per region for the shortest path from leaders; forward shreds to internal consumers and reconcile with Geyser streams. (docs.jito.wtf)
Use lite‑RPC/multiplexer patterns to fan out sends and confirmations across multiple RPCs and WS endpoints, arbitrating by slot. (github.com)

Part 5 — Capacity planning and hardware reality

Ethereum
- Full nodes today often require on the order of 0.5–1.2 TB depending on client and pruning; archives run ~2–3 TB for Erigon/Reth and ~12 TB for legacy hash‑based archive modes. Budget headroom for growth and pruning cycles. (geth.ethereum.org)
- Minimum/recommended from ethereum.org: 2 TB SSD, 8–16 GB RAM, 10–25+ Mbps; plus ~200 GB for beacon data. (ethereum.org)
Solana
- For RPC nodes, prioritize CPU clock, 256–512 GB RAM (with indexes), high‑TBW NVMe, and 1–10 Gbit/s NICs; separate accounts and ledger disks under high IOPS. (docs.solanalabs.com)

Part 6 — Security and reliability checklists

Do not expose the Ethereum Engine API (8551) beyond localhost/VLAN; require JWT on both sides. (ethereum.org)
Explicitly enable only required JSON‑RPC namespaces. For example, on Nethermind configure JsonRpc.EnabledModules; on Erigon select eth, net, web3 for public endpoints and put debug/trace behind IP allow‑lists. (docs.nethermind.io)
Put an L4/L7 in front (HAProxy/Envoy) to:
- Cap concurrency per client and per method; prefer HTTP/1.1 keep‑alive for JSON‑RPC fan‑out; apply circuit breakers and QUIC/HTTP2 tuning for WS PubSub as needed. (haproxy.com)
Observability: export Prometheus metrics from clients; alert on sync lag, peer count, mempool size, slot height/epoch, and RPC p95/p99.

Part 7 — Emerging practices you can adopt now

Ethereum stateless experiments: Reth “Ress” allows fully validating EL with ~14 GB disk using state witnesses. Treat as research for now but track if you’re capacity‑constrained or designing next‑gen light infra. (paradigm.xyz)
OpenRPC/Service discovery: EIP‑1901 proposes machine‑readable JSON‑RPC descriptions; useful for generating client SDKs and validating method availability in CI. (eips.ethereum.org)
GraphQL for selective reads: enable Geth’s GraphQL for complex, multi‑field queries to replace multiple RPCs and lower app side joins. (geth.ethereum.org)
Solana SWQoS: use it when you control both sides (trusted RPC and validator); it allocates a priority share of TPU bandwidth proportionally to stake, reducing inclusion variance during spikes. (solana.com)
Geyser/Yellowstone: standardize your event ingestion on gRPC streams to avoid polling and stabilize tail latencies for indexers and notifiers. (github.com)

Practical examples

Ethereum: pin a safe, minimal RPC surface on Erigon rpcdaemon
- Enable only eth, net, web3; place debug/trace on a separate node group.
- Increase batch concurrency to saturate read IO:
  - Flags: --http.api=eth,net,web3 --rpc.batch.concurrency=128 --db.read.concurrency=128
- Keep Engine API local only: --private.api.addr=127.0.0.1:9090 and JWT for 8551. (docs.erigon.tech)
Solana: optimize account reads
- Server: start RPC with --account-index=program-id --account-index=spl-token-owner and dedicate a 500 GB+ NVMe for Accounts DB. (docs.solanalabs.com)
- Client: replace many getAccountInfo calls with a single getMultipleAccounts and use {"encoding":"base64+zstd","dataSlice":{"offset":X,"length":Y}} to cut transfer size. (solana.com)
Solana: price fees and send under load
- Fetch getRecentPrioritizationFees with the exact set of writable accounts your tx touches; simulateTransaction with replaceRecentBlockhash; if mission‑critical, route to a SWQoS‑peered validator or Jito sendBundle with a small randomized tip. (solana.com)

When to buy instead of build

Buy managed RPC when:
- You need global low‑latency edges (multi‑region), SWQoS relationships, or ShredStream access you can’t replicate quickly.
- Your workload is bursty and you prefer elastic pricing to over‑provisioning for p99.
Build when:
- You have stable throughput, strict data‑governance needs, or custom namespaces/filters (e.g., Nethermind trace_*, Erigon OTS) that vendors may restrict. (docs.nethermind.io)

A simple selection framework

Choose Ethereum if your product is EVM‑first (DeFi/enterprise provenance); pick Reth for cutting‑edge performance or Erigon for modular RPC scale; add a minority consensus client for client diversity. (paradigm.xyz)
Choose Solana when you need very high TPS and low latency UX; plan for account‑aware RPC, priority fees, and optional SWQoS/Jito paths for predictable inclusion. (solana.com)

Final advice from the field

Don’t expose what you don’t need: narrow your JSON‑RPC namespaces; denylist mutating methods on public endpoints; secure Engine APIs with JWT and localhost bindings. (ethereum.org)
Separate concerns: run tracing/indexing on dedicated nodes; reserve “clean” nodes for app traffic.
Measure what matters: treat “time to inclusion” (Solana) and “safe/finalized consistency” (Ethereum) as SLOs, not just p95 latency.

If you want a tailored build plan (hardware BOM, flags, HA topology) for your throughput and geography, 7Block Labs can benchmark your workload against Reth, Erigon, Geth, and Agave/Jito stacks and recommend a costed architecture.