Solana: Receive RPC calls faster

Optimizing Solana RPC Calls for Lower Latency

As a Solana developer, you are aware of the importance of minimizing latency in your application. The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) mechanism is one of the most critical components that allows users to interact with your smart contracts remotely. However, even well-optimized code often has room for improvement in terms of RPC call times.

In this article, we will explore ways to reduce the latency of Solana RPC calls from 1 second to 200 milliseconds to 600 milliseconds or more.

Current Status

Currently, the best practices of the Phosphorus Network (the popular Solana network) are to resolve RPC calls in about 1 second. This is a relatively standard value and has been widely discussed among developers.

Comparison Results

To get a better idea of ​​how RPC calls are optimized, let’s look at some comparison results:

• A sample RPC call using the photon-sol library on the Phosphor network takes about 1 second to resolve.

• A similar RPC call using Solana’s optimized code (using the solana-rpc library) resolves in about 200 milliseconds.

Why the difference?

The primary reason for this difference is network overhead. When an RPC call is made, it’s not just the function call itself that takes time; there are other latency factors at play:

• Network latency

  

  : Data travels from the client to the Solana node and back.

• Transaction processing: Before the RPC call can proceed, the Solana node must process the transaction and verify its integrity.

Optimization Strategies

You can reduce latency in RPC calls by considering the following strategies:

• Use solana-rpc instead of photon-sol: The solana-rpc library is optimized for performance and reduces latency.

• Implement a custom RPC handler: Instead of creating the built-in solana-rpc library, you can create a custom handler that leverages your own event handling logic to optimize latency.

• Use the photon-sol parameter with solana-vm

  : The photon-sol library uses the WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine, which can help reduce latency compared to the native Solana node runtime.

Example Code

Here is an example of how you can implement a custom RPC handler using solana-rpc:

use solana_program::{
account_info::{next_account_info, AccountInfo},
entry point,
message,
};
use solana_rpc::{Request, Response};
entrypoint!(process_rpc);
fn process_rpc(args: &Request) -> Result {
// Your custom logic to optimize RPC latency
let event = account_info::get_account_by_index(&args.args.account_id).unwrap();
// Process the event
Ok(Response::new())
}

In this example, we create a custom “process_rpc” function that takes in an “account_id” argument. The function processes the event using your own logic and returns a “Response”.

Conclusion

Reducing RPC call latency in Solana requires knowledge of network dynamics, optimization strategies, and custom implementation techniques. By leveraging the “solana-rpc” library and implementing custom handlers, or using optimized libraries like “photon-sol”, you can significantly reduce the latency of your application.

Remember to thoroughly benchmark your code before making changes to ensure optimal performance. Happy coding!