Google Cloud announces Blockchain Node Engine to start on Ethereum

Google Cloud is expanding its efforts to support Web3 developers in creating and releasing new products on blockchain-based platforms as blockchain technology continues to change the way information is moved and stored.

Specifically, on October 27, Google Cloud announced the release of a Blockchain Node Engine, a blockchain-based tool meant to assist Web3 developers in building and deploying new products on blockchain-based platforms.

Blockchain Node Engine, a fully managed node-hosting for Web3 development, will initially support Ethereum (ETH) as its first network. This will allow blockchain developers to offer fully managed Ethereum nodes that have safe access to the blockchain.

Speed up node syncing

Google notes that manually deploying a node requires provisioning a compute instance, like installing an Ethereum client (such as geth), and waiting for the node to sync with the network. It may take many days to sync a full node from the first block (i.e., “genesis”). 

Thus, Google Cloud’s Blockchain Node Engine aims to help accelerate and simplify this process by enabling developers to deploy a new node in a single action and select the region and network (mainnet, testnet).

Added security configurations

Furthemore, Blockchain Node Engine has security settings that may assist prevent unwanted access to nodes. In this line, only trusted machines and users may connect with client endpoints when nodes are placed behind a Virtual Private Cloud firewall. 

Moreover, since it is a fully managed service, there is no need to be concerned about Blockchain Node Engine’s availability. The nodes are being continually monitored by Google Cloud, and if anything goes wrong, it “restarts them during outages as needed.”

Google Cloud claims Blockchain Node Engine will free teams to concentrate on users rather than infrastructure by “reducing the need for a specialized DevOps team” and “by offering Google Cloud’s service level agreement (SLA).”

Elsewhere, the technology giant largely attributed a slowdown in revenue growth this year to a decrease in ad expenditure by financial organizations, including those dealing with crypto assets brought on by the bear market.