Pipe Network Launches SolanaCDN: A Free, Open-Source Validator Client With Built-In Acceleration for Solana

San Francisco, CA, February 26th, 2026, Chainwire

SolanaCDN delivers 3.8x faster shred propagation through a global mesh of 35,000+ nodes, provided as a public good for the Solana network

Pipe Network today announced the launch of SolanaCDN, a free, open-source Solana validator client with an integrated CDN acceleration layer. Built as a fork of Anza's Agave, SolanaCDN gives every Solana validator access to faster shred propagation through Pipe's global network of 35,000+ PoP (Point-of-Presence) nodes.

The client and CDN layer are both completely free. Pipe Network is providing SolanaCDN as public good infrastructure for the Solana ecosystem.

The problem SolanaCDN solves

Validator performance on Solana is heavily influenced by network geography. Validators closer to block producers see shreds earlier, vote sooner, and earn more rewards. Validators in less connected regions face slower propagation, missed votes, and reduced leader slot revenue regardless of their hardware.

SolanaCDN addresses this by giving validators a second, faster path for shred delivery alongside native gossip. Shreds and vote packets route through Pipe's global mesh, which continuously measures every network path and routes traffic along the fastest available route in real time.

Native gossip still runs underneath. SolanaCDN adds a parallel fast lane.

Performance

SolanaCDN delivers 3.8x faster propagation than standard Turbine, with a P50 cross-region latency of approximately 78ms compared to the roughly 300ms baseline on standard gossip.

The client also ships with Pipe-built optimizations available out of the box before the CDN layer is enabled: optimized shred coalescing for leaders (Fast Shreds), snapshot downloads from Pipe's global network, and restore progress with real-time ETAs during validator catchup.

Public good infrastructure

Faster propagation is a network effect. Every validator running SolanaCDN improves shred delivery globally, which means faster block finalization, fewer forks, and fewer missed slots across the entire Solana network.

"Validator performance shouldn't be determined by geography," said David Rhodus, CEO of Pipe Network. "SolanaCDN gives every validator access to the same fast infrastructure. The more validators that run it, the faster Solana gets for everyone."

Technical design

SolanaCDN is a fully compatible Agave fork. Validators can install it as a drop-in replacement for their existing client. The CDN layer is optional, activated with a single configuration flag, and is non-consensus by design. It does not modify block production, consensus logic, leader scheduling, or voting rules. All CDN operations are non-blocking and fail-safe. If the CDN layer is unavailable, the validator continues operating normally.

Built-in Prometheus metrics and CDN-versus-gossip race data give operators full visibility into performance changes in their environment.

Availability

SolanaCDN is available now. The source code is published on GitHub and the client is ready to run on Solana mainnet-beta.

Website: https://solanacdn.com

GitHub: https://github.com/pipenetwork/agave-solana

About Pipe Network

Pipe Network is a global edge infrastructure company built on Solana. The network operates 35,000+ hyperlocal PoP nodes globally, providing distributed storage with fast reads and real-time data delivery. Pipe's overlay network tracks latency, loss, and jitter across every path in real time and routes traffic along the fastest one.

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