Erigon

Chapter 9: Erigon Client - High-Performance Ethereum

Overview

Erigon (formerly TurboGeth) is a high-performance Ethereum implementation written in Go. It’s designed to be faster and more resource-efficient than Geth while maintaining full compatibility.

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9.1 What is Erigon?

Erigon is a next-generation Ethereum client focused on:

• Speed: Faster synchronization and queries
• Storage Efficiency: Smaller disk footprint
• Performance: Better RPC throughput
• Modularity: Separate components

Erigon vs Geth

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    ERIGON VS GETH COMPARISON                                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                              │
│  Feature              │ Erigon (TurboGeth)  │ Geth (Go Ethereum)            │
│  ────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼────────────────────────────── │
│  Sync Speed          │ Faster (3-5 days)   │ Slower (1-2 weeks)           │
│  Storage             │ ~900GB (pruned)     │ ~1.2TB (pruned)              │
│  RPC Performance     │ Higher throughput   │ Lower throughput             │
│  Database            │ MDBX (custom)       │ LevelDB                      │
│  Snap Sync           │ Optimized           │ Standard                    │
│  Archive Mode        │ ~6TB                │ ~12TB                        │
│  Active Development  │ Erigon Team         │ Ethereum Foundation         │
│                                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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9.2 Installing Erigon

Prerequisites

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	8 cores	16+ cores
RAM	16 GB	32 GB
Storage	1 TB NVMe SSD	2 TB NVMe SSD
OS	Ubuntu 20.04+	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Installation Methods

Method 1: Download Binary

# Download latest Erigon
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/ledgerwatch/erigon/releases/download/v2.56.0/erigon_2.56.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf erigon_2.56.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv erigon /usr/local/bin/
rm -rf erigon_2.56.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz

# Verify installation
erigon --version

Method 2: Build from Source

# Install dependencies
sudo apt-get install build-essential git

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/ledgerwatch/erigon.git
cd erigon

# Build
make erigon

# Install
sudo cp build/bin/erigon /usr/local/bin/

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9.3 Running Erigon

Basic Commands

# Start Erigon with defaults
erigon

# Start with custom settings
erigon \
  --chain mainnet \
  --syncmode snap \
  --http \
  --http.addr 0.0.0.0 \
  --http.port 8545 \
  --http.api eth,net,web3,erigon,debug,trace \
  --ws \
  --ws.port 8546 \
  --datadir /data/erigon \
  --port 30303 \
  --maxpeers 100

Key Flags

Flag	Description	Example
--chain	Blockchain network	mainnet, sepolia
--syncmode	Sync mode	snap, full, light
--http	Enable HTTP
--http.api	Enabled APIs	eth,net,web3,erigon
--datadir	Data directory	/data/erigon
--http.vhosts	Allowed hosts	localhost,*

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9.4 Erigon Features

Optimized Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      ERIGON ARCHITECTURE                                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                              │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                      ERIGON CORE                                      │  │
│  │                                                                        │  │
│  │   ┌────────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐   │  │
│  │   │   MDBX DB     │    │  State diffs  │    │   Freezer     │   │  │
│  │   │  (Key-Value)  │    │   (Snapshots)  │    │  (Historical) │   │  │
│  │   └────────────────┘    └────────────────┘    └────────────────┘   │  │
│  │                                                                        │  │
│  │   ┌────────────────┐    ┌────────────────┐                         │  │
│  │   │   RPC Daemon  │    │  Downloader   │                         │  │
│  │   │  (Parallel)   │    │   (Segments)  │                         │  │
│  │   └────────────────┘    └────────────────┘                         │  │
│  │                                                                        │  │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                                              │
│  Advantages:                                                                 │
│  - Parallel RPC handlers                                                    │
│  - Compressed state snapshots                                              │
│  - Efficient storage with MDBX                                             │
│  - Historical data freezer (reduces storage)                               │
│                                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Snapshots

Erigon uses state snapshots to speed up sync:

# Enable snapshots (enabled by default)
--snapshots true

# Snapshot generation
erigon --snapshots=true --internalcl

Freezer (Historical Data)

Erigon moves old data to “freezer”:

# Freezer directory (separate from main DB)
--externalcl

# Automatically freezes historical blocks after some epochs

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9.5 Erigon RPC APIs

Available APIs

API	Description
eth	Standard Ethereum JSON-RPC
net	Network information
web3	Web3 utilities
erigon	Erigon-specific APIs
debug	Debugging & tracing
trace	Transaction tracing

Erigon-Specific Methods

// erigon_getBlockByTimestamp
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "erigon_getBlockByTimestamp",
  "params": [1699999999, false],
  "id": 1
}

// erigon_getLogsByHash
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "erigon_getLogsByHash",
  "params": ["0xabc123..."],
  "id": 1
}

// erigon_forks
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "erigon_forks",
  "params": [],
  "id": 1
}

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9.6 Configuration Example

Production Setup

erigon \
  --chain mainnet \
  --syncmode snap \
  --http \
  --http.addr 0.0.0.0 \
  --http.port 8545 \
  --http.api eth,net,web3,erigon,debug,trace \
  --http.vhosts "*" \
  --http.corsdomain "*" \
  --ws \
  --ws.addr 0.0.0.0 \
  --ws.port 8546 \
  --ws.api eth,net,web3,erigon,debug,trace \
  --ws.origins "*" \
  --datadir /data/erigon \
  --port 30303 \
  --maxpeers 100 \
  --metrics \
  --metrics.addr 0.0.0.0 \
  --metrics.port 6060 \
  --pprof \
  --pprof.addr 0.0.0.0 \
  --pprof.port 6061 \
  --torrent.port 42000 \
  --prune htc \
  --prune.rct 1000 \
  --prune.ctb 90000

Pruning Options

# Prune everything (h=history, t=receipts, c=call traces)
--prune htc

# Keep last 90,000 blocks of history
--prune htc --prune.h.older 90000

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9.7 Systemd Service

[Unit]
Description=Erigon Ethereum Node
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=ethereum
Group=ethereum
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/erigon \
  --chain mainnet \
  --syncmode snap \
  --http \
  --http.addr 127.0.0.1 \
  --http.port 8545 \
  --http.api eth,net,web3,erigon,debug,trace \
  --ws \
  --ws.addr 127.0.0.1 \
  --ws.port 8546 \
  --ws.api eth,net,web3,erigon,debug,trace \
  --datadir /data/erigon \
  --port 30303 \
  --maxpeers 100 \
  --metrics \
  --metrics.port 6060 \
  --pprof

NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=true
ReadWritePaths=/data/erigon

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

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9.8 Checking Sync Status

# Attach to Erigon RPC
curl -X POST http://localhost:8545 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_syncing","params":[],"id":1}'

# Check block number
curl -X POST http://localhost:8545 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}'

# Erigon-specific status
curl -X POST http://localhost:8545 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"erigon_nodeInfo","params":[],"id":1}'

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9.9 Other Alternative Clients

Nethermind

# Install Nethermind
dotnet tool install -g nethermind
nethermind --config mainnet

# Or download binary
wget https://github.com/NethermindEth/nethermind/releases/download/1.25.0/nethermind-linux-x64-1.25.0.tar.gz

Besu (Hyperledger)

# Install Besu
wget https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/releases/download/23.10.1/besu-23.10.1.tar.gz
tar -xzf besu-23.10.1.tar.gz

# Run
./besu --network=mainnet --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-port=8545

Reth (Rust)

# Install Reth
cargo install --git https://github.com/paradigmxyz/reth.git reth --locked

# Run
reth node --chain mainnet --http --http.port 8545

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9.10 Interview Questions

Question	Answer
What is Erigon?	High-performance Ethereum client (formerly TurboGeth)
How is Erigon faster?	Optimized DB (MDBX), snapshots, parallel RPC
Storage difference?	Erigon uses less storage (~900GB vs 1.2TB)
Can Erigon replace Geth?	Yes, it’s API compatible

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Summary

• Erigon is a fast, efficient Ethereum client
• Uses MDBX database and snapshots
• API-compatible with Geth
• Excellent for high-throughput RPC services

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Next Chapter

In Chapter 10: Besu - Enterprise Ethereum Client, we’ll explore Besu for enterprise use cases.

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Last Updated: 2026-02-20