mimblewimble/grin

Initial header sync (request headers from fast peers or avoid slow peers)

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#3,082 opened on Oct 4, 2019

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 (4 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (991 forks)batch import
enhancementhelp wanted

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Description

The initial sync feels slow. We request headers in chunks of 512 from random connected peer. Sometimes we hit a slow peer and the latency introduced in even a few requests from a slow peer makes the header sync feel slow.

It might be nice to track peer speeds and make a better decision in terms of prioritizing faster peers as we proceed with the header sync.

We already track download rates at some level of granularity (not entirely sure what we do today) as we display this on the TUI - so we may already collect enough information to make this decision around which peers are best to request headers from.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate current peer download rate tracking in the TUI display, then extend it to prioritize faster peers during header sync.
Tech stack
rust
Domain
blockchainbackendnetworking
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Mostly clear
Prerequisites
Rustblockchain basicsnetworking
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65