Avalanche Subnet
Last updated
Last updated
A Subnet is a sovereign network which defines its own rules regarding its membership and token economics. It is composed of a dynamic subset of Avalanche validators working together to achieve consensus on the state of one or more blockchains. Each blockchain is validated by exactly one Subnet, while a Subnet can validate many blockchains.
Avalanche's is a special Subnet running three blockchains:
The Platform Chain
The Contract Chain
The Exchange Chain
Node operators that validate a Subnet with multiple chains do not need to run multiple machines for validation. For example, the Primary Network is a Subnet with three coexisting chains, all of which can be validated by a single node, or a single machine.
Subnets use virtual machines to specify their own execution logic, determine their own fee regime, maintain their own state, facilitate their own networking, and provide their own security.
Each Subnet's performance is isolated from other Subnets in the ecosystem, so increased usage on one Subnet won't affect another.
Subnets can have their own token economics with their own native tokens, fee markets, and incentives determined by the Subnet deployer.
Avalanche Warp Messaging enables native cross-Subnet communication and allows Virtual Machine (VM) developers to implement arbitrary communication protocols between any two Subnets.
Different blockchain-based applications may require validators to have certain properties such as large amounts of RAM or CPU power.
Avalancheโs Subnet architecture makes regulatory compliance manageable. As mentioned above, a Subnet may require validators to meet a set of requirements.
Some examples of requirements the creators of a Subnet may choose include:
Validators must be located in a given country.
Validators must pass KYC/AML checks.
Validators must hold a certain license.
Subnets are ideal for organizations interested in keeping their information private.
In a heterogeneous network of blockchains, some validators will not want to validate certain blockchains because they simply have no interest in those blockchains.
The Subnet model enables validators to concern themselves only with blockchain networks they choose to participate in. This greatly reduces the computational burden on validators.
One Subnet can host multiple blockchains with customized .
A Subnet could require that validators meet certain so that the application doesnโt suffer from low performance due to slow validators.
Institutions conscious of their stakeholders' privacy can create a private Subnet where the contents of the blockchains would be visible only to a set of pre-approved validators. Define this at creation with a .
Subnets on Avalanche are deployed by default with , a fork of go-ethereum. It implements the Ethereum Virtual Machine and supports Solidity smart contracts as well as most other Ethereum client functionality.
To get started, check out the tutorials in our section