Gateway Operator

Complete guide for running a Gateway node on NCN Network.

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Overview

Gateway nodes are the entry points for clients. They:

• Accept inference requests from clients

• Route tasks to compute nodes

• Coordinate payments

• Manage subnet configurations

Earnings: ~10% of each inference fee (routing fee)

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Requirements

Hardware

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 cores	4 cores
RAM	4 GB	8 GB
Storage	50 GB SSD	100 GB SSD
Network	100 Mbps	1 Gbps

Software

• Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 recommended)

• Rust 1.70+ (for building)

• Network connectivity to blockchain RPC

Capital

• Subnet creation fee (varies by models)

• Gas for blockchain transactions

• Reserve for operational costs

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Setup

1. Install Dependencies

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install build tools
sudo apt install -y build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev git

# Install Rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

2. Build Gateway

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/neurochainai/ncn-network-v2-rs.git
cd ncn-network-v2-rs

# Build release
cargo build --release -p gateway_node

# Copy binary
sudo cp target/release/gateway_node /usr/local/bin/

3. Generate Wallet

# Generate new wallet (or use existing)
# Save the private key securely!

# Using cast (Foundry)
cast wallet new

# Output:
# Address: 0x...
# Private Key: 0x...

4. Configure Gateway

Create /etc/ncn/gateway.env:

# Network Configuration
REGISTRY_GRPC_ADDR=http://registry.ncn-network.io:50050
RPC_URL=https://testnet-rpc-1.forknet.io
CHAIN_ID=828

# Contract Addresses
CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x4361115359E5C0a25c9b2f8Bb71184F010b768ea
TOKEN_ADDRESS=0x38E2565e8905BeAf83C34b266592465C22A2f108

# Wallet (SECURE THIS!)
GATEWAY_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY=0x...
GATEWAY_WALLET_ADDRESS=0x...

# Server Addresses
GRPC_ADDR=0.0.0.0:50051
HTTP_ADDR=0.0.0.0:8080
WS_ADDR=0.0.0.0:9000

# Payment Settings
REQUIRE_PAYMENT=true
ENABLE_PAYMENT_VERIFICATION=true
REQUIRED_CONFIRMATIONS=1

# Transaction Settings
GAS_LIMIT=500000
GAS_PRICE_MULTIPLIER=1.1

# Logging
RUST_LOG=info

5. Create Systemd Service

Create /etc/systemd/system/ncn-gateway.service:

[Unit]
Description=NCN Gateway Node
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=ncn
EnvironmentFile=/etc/ncn/gateway.env
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/gateway_node
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

6. Start Gateway

# Create service user
sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false ncn

# Set permissions
sudo chown ncn:ncn /etc/ncn/gateway.env
sudo chmod 600 /etc/ncn/gateway.env

# Enable and start
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ncn-gateway
sudo systemctl start ncn-gateway

# Check status
sudo systemctl status ncn-gateway

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Create a Subnet

1. Prepare Subnet Configuration

Create subnet_config.json:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "model_uuid": "bark_semantic",
      "source": "huggingface",
      "path": "suno/bark",
      "name": "Bark Semantic Model",
      "category": "audio",
      "description": "Text to semantic tokens",
      "max_tokens": 1024,
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "input_format": "json",
      "output_format": "json"
    },
    {
      "model_uuid": "bark_coarse",
      "source": "huggingface",
      "path": "suno/bark",
      "name": "Bark Coarse Model",
      "category": "audio",
      "description": "Semantic to coarse tokens",
      "max_tokens": 1024,
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "input_format": "json",
      "output_format": "json"
    }
  ]
}

2. Estimate Fee

# Using subnet CLI
cargo run --bin subnet-cli -- estimate -c subnet_config.json

# Output:
# Estimated fee: 0.05 ETH
# Fee quote ID: quote-123
# Valid until: 2024-01-15 10:00:00 UTC

3. Create Subnet

# Create subnet (will prompt for payment)
cargo run --bin subnet-cli -- create \
  -c subnet_config.json \
  --gateway-addr http://127.0.0.1:50051 \
  --wallet-key $GATEWAY_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY

# Output:
# Subnet created!
# Subnet ID: 1
# Models: bark_semantic, bark_coarse

---

Operations

Monitor Gateway

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u ncn-gateway -f

# Check health
curl http://localhost:8080/health

# View metrics (if enabled)
curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

View Connected Compute Nodes

# Check logs for registrations
grep "registered" /var/log/ncn/gateway.log

# Or via API (if implemented)
curl http://localhost:8080/api/v1/nodes

Check Subnet Status

cargo run --bin subnet-cli -- list --gateway-addr http://127.0.0.1:50051

---

Earnings

Fee Distribution

For each inference request:

• 10% goes to Gateway (you)

• 80% goes to Compute Node

• 5% goes to Validators

• 5% goes to Treasury

Track Earnings

# Check wallet balance
cast balance $GATEWAY_WALLET_ADDRESS --rpc-url $RPC_URL

# View transaction history
cast logs --from-block latest-1000 \
  --address $CONTRACT_ADDRESS \
  --rpc-url $RPC_URL

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Maintenance

Update Gateway

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop ncn-gateway

# Pull updates
cd ncn-network-v2-rs
git pull

# Rebuild
cargo build --release -p gateway_node

# Update binary
sudo cp target/release/gateway_node /usr/local/bin/

# Restart
sudo systemctl start ncn-gateway

Backup Configuration

# Backup configuration and keys
sudo tar -czf gateway-backup.tar.gz /etc/ncn/

# Store securely offsite

Rotate Keys

# Generate new wallet
cast wallet new

# Update configuration
sudo nano /etc/ncn/gateway.env

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart ncn-gateway

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Troubleshooting

Gateway Won't Start

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u ncn-gateway -n 100

# Common issues:
# - Registry not reachable
# - Invalid private key
# - Port already in use

No Compute Nodes

• Check compute nodes are running

• Verify they're targeting your gateway address

• Check network connectivity

Payment Issues

• Verify RPC URL is correct

• Check wallet has sufficient balance

• Verify contract address

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Security Best Practices

1. Secure Private Key

   • Use hardware wallet or HSM in production

   • Never commit keys to version control

2. Firewall

   • Only expose necessary ports

   • Use TLS for production

3. Monitoring

   • Set up alerts for anomalies

   • Monitor for unauthorized access

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Next Steps

• Monitoring - Set up monitoring

• Production Deployment - Production hardening

• Troubleshooting - Common issues