SLV Is Open-Source Software That Supports Launching and Operating Solana Validators and RPC. It Significantly Reduces Real-World Operational Burden in an Era of Frequent Upgrades, Downgrades, and Restarts
SLV Is Open-Source Software That Supports Launching and Operating Solana Validators and RPC. It Significantly Reduces Real-World Operational Burden in an Era of Frequent Upgrades, Downgrades, and Restarts
SLV, developed and operated by ELSOUL LABO B.V. (Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands; CEO: Fumitake Kawasaki) and Validators DAO, is open-source software that supports the launch and continuous operation of Solana validators and RPC. Born as the successor to solv, SLV has addressed the real operational burdens and structural challenges of Solana node operation in a manner grounded in production environments, for users ranging from beginners to professional operators.
SLV is built on the premise that the quality of the Solana network directly depends on the operational state and prerequisites of each validator and RPC. Its purpose is to realize, through open source, an environment in which correct operation can be broadly and consistently achieved.
Large-Scale Upgrade Efforts Toward Solana v3
Solana is currently in a phase where upgrades to the v3 series are being advanced while simultaneously verifying that upgrades and downgrades between v3 and v3.1 can be performed freely. This is not a simple release update, but one of the most critical transitional periods for Solana, as major changes affecting the consensus layer, such as Alpenglow, are anticipated.
In such a phase, it is not possible to fully predict in advance how each change will affect the network. For this reason, it has become a shared understanding across the community that validators must always be able to move versions up and down, immediately roll back in the event of issues, and keep downtime to an absolute minimum.
At the same time, continuously performing this verification and switching requires substantial procedural checks, validation time, and operational effort. Solana validators are bearing this significant operational burden as a practical responsibility in order to support the stability of the entire network.
Operational Burden Is Not an Individual Problem, but a Network Quality Issue
The operational quality of validators and RPC on Solana is not a problem confined to individual nodes. Configuration mistakes or missing prerequisites ultimately manifest as network-wide issues, such as unstable voting behavior, processing delays, and increased retransmissions.
What is important is that these issues occur regardless of intent. Even with good intentions, if prerequisites are not properly satisfied, the result is degraded evaluations and a decline in overall network quality. Because evaluations are based on measured outcomes, intent is irrelevant—only results accumulate.
Therefore, operational burden should not be treated as a problem to be solved through individual effort or attentiveness. To maintain and improve Solana’s quality, it must be recognized as a structural issue affecting the network as a whole.
SLV Has Addressed These Structural Challenges as the Successor to solv
SLV was created as the successor project originating from solv. Through the operation of solv, it became clear that Solana node operations are highly prone to individual dependency, with knowledge and procedures difficult to share.
Only a small number of experienced operators understood the correct prerequisites, while others were placed at a disadvantage without realizing it. This structure itself was a source of instability in network quality. SLV aims to correct this structure through open source.
As long as operations depend on personal judgment and memory, reproducibility cannot be achieved. SLV provides open-source software that fixes correct operation into a reproducible form.
What SLV Provides Is Not Convenience, but Correct Prerequisites
SLV is not a tool designed to eliminate work, nor does it aim to black-box operations. What SLV emphasizes is creating a state in which everyone can satisfy the prerequisites required for Solana validators and RPC to exhibit their intended performance and stability.
If prerequisites are not met, even high-performance hardware and well-intentioned operations will not lead to stable results. Because evaluations accumulate as continuous measured values, differences in prerequisites appear directly as differences in evaluation.
SLV does not leave these prerequisites to individual operator discretion, but instead provides open-source software that helps align them in a shared and reproducible manner.
A Practical Solution for an Era of Frequent Upgrades and Restarts
In today’s Solana operations, upgrades, downgrades, and restarts are not exceptions—they are the norm. Any design that ignores this reality cannot reduce operational burden. SLV is designed on the assumption that these tasks will inevitably occur.
The goal is not to eliminate the tasks themselves, but to reduce the time required for confirmation, application, and recovery, as well as the margin for human error. SLV reduces manual burden while preserving the operator’s responsibility to verify the code being deployed.
As a result, stable operation becomes easier to sustain even under conditions of frequent change.
The Fact That Validator Migration Can Be Performed Without Downtime
With proper prerequisites and correct procedures in place, Solana validators can be migrated without causing downtime. However, this fact is not widely shared, and many operations still experience unnecessary stoppages and evaluation degradation.
The assumption that migration must involve downtime stems from the lack of systematically established operational procedures. SLV provides this critical but underrecognized operational knowledge not as guidance alone, but as implementation.
This makes it possible to perform necessary migrations without compromising the stability of the overall network.
Open Source as a Prerequisite for Trust
SLV publishes all of its code as open source. Trust is not placed in automation simply because it exists, but because its contents can be inspected and verified.
In an environment like Solana, where operational results directly affect evaluation and incentives, black-box tools cannot earn long-term trust. Being open source is itself a prerequisite for software intended to be used as shared operational infrastructure.
This transparency creates a common baseline that applies equally to beginners and professional operators.
Operational Tooling Is Already Advancing on Other Chains
On other blockchains, tooling and environments that support validator operations have already been established in some cases. In those ecosystems, ease of operation has contributed to participant diversity and improved quality.
Solana is also entering a phase where operational quality must no longer depend on individual effort or tacit knowledge. A transition from individual-dependent operations to shared, reproducible operational tooling is required.
SLV is designed to serve that role as open-source software.
Why SLV Will Be Indispensable for the Future of the Solana Chain
As Solana’s visibility increases, new participants and diverse operational environments will continue to grow. Under these conditions, quality cannot be maintained through individual operations alone.
Without shared prerequisites and shared operational tooling, evaluations become distorted and network quality becomes unstable. SLV supports an environment in which all participants can be evaluated under the same standards by enabling correct operation to be reproduced broadly.
This is essential for sustaining healthy competition and long-term growth.
The Future of SLV
Going forward, SLV will evolve into a form that can also be used in a standalone manner, similar to the solv era. In addition, for remote management use cases, SLV will implement a secure UI application that runs exclusively on the local machine, enabling more intuitive management of Solana nodes without relying on externally hosted control planes.
At the same time, SLV’s stance of not obscuring prerequisites or responsibility will remain unchanged. The philosophy of simplifying operations without lowering quality will continue to be upheld.
SLV is not merely a convenient tool. It is open-source software for socializing operational quality in Solana and creating an environment where anyone can participate under the same prerequisites. In an era of constant change and growth, open-source operational software like SLV carries critical significance for the Solana chain.
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