Ethereum Node Message Propagation Bandwidth Consumption

Abstract

This bandwidth consumption analysis by Yiannis Psaras and Mikel Cortes from ProbeLab investigates the GossipSub protocol components responsible for message propagation bandwidth usage in Ethereum's peer-to-peer network using the Hermes monitoring tool. Analyzing a 3.5-hour trace of GossipSub traffic, the study reveals that sent messages (SENT_MSG) consume the largest share at 53% of total bandwidth (69% of outbound), followed surprisingly by control messages, with SENT_IHAVE messages accounting for 23.4% of total bandwidth and 30% of outbound traffic, and received IHAVE messages representing 10% of total bandwidth and 42% of inbound traffic. The analysis shows that IHAVE and IHAVE-related control traffic consumes approximately 400 KB/s collectively, representing a major optimization opportunity, while received duplicates account for 7.3% of total bandwidth compared to only 3.6% for original messages. The study validates findings from prior research on IHAVE/IWANT effectiveness and emphasizes that duplicates collectively represent approximately 42% of total bandwidth consumption. The authors project that standard Ethereum nodes consume approximately 386 KB/s inbound and 580 KB/s outbound (including execution layer), and strongly recommend adoption of GossipSub 1.2 to eliminate duplicate message bandwidth, as this would provide significant network-wide efficiency gains while remaining a small fraction of typical household bandwidth availability.