Argument-0005: Retention at Rank I

Member details

• Matrix username: @lexnv:parity.io
• Polkadot address: 14Mjra9hNggCSLyVv3AmtvpjeyBhUMwiEEBXGFidu3ZWTEQN
• Current rank: I
• Date of initial induction: 2025/02/12
• Date of last report: 2025/10/31
• Area(s) of Expertise/Interest: Substrate Node, Substrate RPC, FRAME

Reporting period

• Start date: 2025/10/31
• End date: 2026/02/02

Argument

Over the recent months, my focus has been primarily on low-latency networking initiatives within the Polkadot ecosystem. My key achievement during this period was enabling Elastic Scaling with 3 cores for the Kusama and Polkadot Asset Hubs. In addition, I have remained a core contributor to litep2p, focusing on critical fixes and reviewing the ongoing WebRTC implementation.

Elastic Scaling & Networking Optimization

I have led the enablement of Elastic Scaling for Kusama and Polkadot Asset Hubs, a feature that allows nodes to dynamically adjust CPU core allocation based on real-time network conditions and demand. This process required adjusting runtimes, verifying current chain configurations, and testing the changes across various scenarios to ensure long-term stability and performance.

Through this investigation, I identified and addressed several areas for improvement within the networking stack, such as protocol optimizations and reducing latency in peer-to-peer communications. I also identified and resolved multiple issues within the collator protocol to ensure smooth operations under varying loads. Furthermore, I optimized the Substrate peerset networking layer to mitigate delays in processing incoming messages, a step that is crucial for maintaining low-latency communication in a dynamic environment.

To validate these changes, a fully manually managed chain was deployed on Paseo to ensure stability under diverse load conditions. Following successful testing, we have proceeded with the rollout of these changes to the Kusama and Polkadot Asset Hubs. The full scope of this work—including the testing stacks used and the resolution of various broken scenarios—is documented in github #10425.

Other work:

Beyond these core projects, I continue to provide reviews for the Polkadot-SDK in my area of expertise. I have also taken the initiative to support the WebRTC implementation in litep2p, ensuring that the integration remains smooth and efficient for the broader ecosystem.

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