INTERNET COMPUTER
Cycles / s 
Cycles / s

This is the rate at which cycles are being burned by the network.

Cycles are the digital fuel that powers computation on the network, and they disappear when consumed. When a user buys using a credit card, the payment provider purchases ICP tokens behind the scenes, converts them into cycles, and then charges up the user's hosted software or cloud engines.

1 trillion cycles is worth 1 XDR (known as a Special Drawing Right/SDR), a currency defined by the IMF. 1 XDR is worth about $1.44 USD.

Network market cap 
Network market cap

The network market cap is the number of ICP tokens multiplied by their price. Network users convert ICP tokens into cycles that are burned and disappear (deflation), and they are generated by the network to remunerate node providers operating nodes, and by some participants in network governance (inflation).

ICP tokens exist within network protocol, and enable it to create a network economy without central points of failure.

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01
§ Wiki · Topic51 entries

#node-provider

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  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Validation of Candidate Node Machines

    How prospective node operators check whether their planned machines actually improve network decentralization, using the community optimization model and the IC target topology.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Updating a Node's IPv4 Address and Domain Name

    Two procedures — IC-OS reinstall and a non-disruptive dfx call — for updating the public IPv4 address and domain name of an existing node.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Updating Node Firmware

    How to obtain firmware packages from the server vendor — chiefly Dell — and the support-ticket workflow for getting direct download links.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-2 Supermicro

    BIOS and UEFI settings for Gen-2 Supermicro node machines — advanced ACPI, CPU, NB, xGMI, memory, PCIe, and Trusted Computing settings required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-2 Gigabyte

    BIOS and UEFI settings for Gen-2 Gigabyte node machines — Trusted Computing, CPU, PCI subsystem, and AMD CBS settings required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-2 Dell

    BIOS and UEFI settings for Gen-2 Dell node machines — processor, boot mode, integrated devices, system security, and miscellaneous settings required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-2 ASUS

    BIOS and UEFI settings for Gen-2 ASUS node machines — Trusted Computing, AMD CBS, CPU, and PCI subsystem settings required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-1 Supermicro

    BIOS and UEFI settings for Gen-1 Supermicro node machines — advanced settings (boot feature, ACPI, CPU, NB, PCIe) and boot mode required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    IC-OS UEFI Configuration — Gen-1 Dell (PowerEdge R6525)

    BIOS and UEFI settings for the Gen-1 Dell PowerEdge R6525 — iDRAC password reset, processor, boot, integrated devices, and miscellaneous settings required by IC-OS.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Troubleshooting Failed NNS Proposals

    What to do when a Network Nervous System proposal you submitted as a node provider fails to validate or fails to adopt.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Thirty-Day Moving Average ICP/XDR Conversion

    How the Cycles Minting Canister computes the 30-day moving average ICP/XDR exchange rate that converts XDR-denominated node provider rewards into ICP at minting time.

  • May 4, 2026·7 min

    RMU Build: Teleport Setup

    Provision the Teleport container on the Gen-1.5 RMU, install the Teleport software, share RMU services through Teleport, and reference notes on roles, tokens, and upgrades.

  • May 4, 2026·5 min

    RMU Build: Proxmox Setup

    Install and configure Proxmox VE on the Gen-1.5 RMU — installation, repositories, container templates, ISO images, and LAN bridge networking.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    RMU Build: Prerequisites

    Networking, hardware, domain, and installation-media requirements to gather before starting the Gen-1 to Gen-1.5 RMU build runbook.

  • May 4, 2026·5 min

    RMU Build: MaaS Setup

    Provision the MaaS (Metal as a Service) container on the Gen-1.5 RMU, install MaaS, share it via Teleport, perform the initial configuration, and reserve a DHCP range for BMCs.

  • May 4, 2026·14 min

    RMU Build: Best Practices and Reference

    Recommended hardening and operational add-ons for the Gen-1.5 RMU — Proxmox firewall, RACADM, Dell OpenManage Enterprise, SuperMicro firmware updates, BMC console access, OPNsense GUI, and network/cabling reference tables.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Reward Configuration Guide

    How a node provider submits the reward configuration proposal that registers their nodes with the Network Nervous System and starts the reward stream.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Removing a Node From the Registry

    How to remove a node's record from the registry when its allowance is full and the underlying machine has been hardware-replaced or retired.

  • May 4, 2026·5 min

    Proof of Useful Work

    The Internet Computer's membership and consensus model — dedicated standardised hardware doing real computation, governed by the NNS, instead of hashing or pure stake.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Performance-based Rewards

    How the Performance-based Rewards (PBR) v1 schedule scales monthly node rewards according to block-maker failure rates relative to subnet baseline.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Node Provider Troubleshooting

    Index of the troubleshooting guides node providers reach for first — deployment errors, unhealthy nodes, networking, and failed NNS proposals — plus how to read a node's identity from its console.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Node Provider Self-declaration

    The identity declaration and good-faith statement a prospective node provider files before the NNS votes on their onboarding proposal.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Node Provider Roadmap

    The end-to-end path to becoming a node provider on the Internet Computer, organized as six milestones from education through ongoing node management.

  • May 4, 2026·9 min

    Node Provider Remuneration

    How node providers are paid — the minting cadence, the XDR conversion, and the reward tables for each hardware generation and geography.

  • May 4, 2026·5 min

    Node Provider Onboarding

    The technical procedure for becoming an accepted node provider on the Internet Computer, from tool installation through NNS proposal and node operator records.

  • May 4, 2026·6 min

    Node Provider Maintenance Guide

    Day-to-day responsibilities for keeping node machines healthy on the Internet Computer — monitoring, common maintenance tasks, scheduled outages, and peer support.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Node Provider Legal Guide

    Guidance on establishing a legal entity for node-provider operations and on local regulatory and tax compliance.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Node Provider FAQ

    Common questions about running node machines on the Internet Computer — hardware compliance, RAID, HSMs, encryption, and the limits of provider access to canister state.

  • May 4, 2026·6 min

    Node Provider Documentation

    How independent operators run the hardware that hosts the Internet Computer — the role, the current onboarding status, the lifecycle from proposal to operation, and the rewards.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Node Provider Networking Guide

    Networking requirements for connecting node machines to the Internet Computer — bandwidth, IPv4/IPv6, switch layout, BMC isolation, and monitoring.

  • May 4, 2026·8 min

    Node Provider Machine Hardware Guide

    Hardware specifications and validated server configurations for node machines that join the Internet Computer — Gen-1 legacy and current Gen-2.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Node Provider Domain Name Guide

    How to assign domain names and DNS records to IPv4-enabled node machines, with a walk-through of a typical Cloudflare configuration.

  • May 4, 2026·8 min

    Troubleshooting Node Deployment Errors

    Diagnostic guide for the common failure modes encountered while installing IC-OS on a node machine — registration errors, blank consoles, missing drives, network failures, and how to get a shell in SetupOS.

  • May 4, 2026·11 min

    Node Deployment Guide (Gen-2)

    Step-by-step runbook for installing IC-OS on Gen-2 node hardware using a node-operator private key — the current non-HSM deployment path.

  • May 4, 2026·11 min

    Node Deployment Guide (Gen-1, with HSM)

    Step-by-step runbook for installing IC-OS on Gen-1 node hardware using a NitroKey HSM — the legacy deployment path used by providers onboarded before the no-HSM flow.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Node Deployment config.ini Reference

    Reference for the node_reward_type field in the IC-OS installer config.ini — how to look up the correct value, what happens when it is missing, and how to verify the value after deployment.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Node Provider Alerting Options

    Available monitoring and alerting tools that node providers can use to watch their node machines and data centers.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    NitroKey HSM Installation Runbook

    Legacy runbook for initializing a NitroKey HSM with the OpenSC tooling, generating the EC keypair, and deriving the node operator principal — only required for Gen-1 onboarding.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Moving a Node Between Data Centers

    The six-step sequence for relocating a node machine to a new data center while keeping operator allowances and reward configurations consistent.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Manual Node Recovery Guide

    The procedure node providers run, under direction from DFINITY, to bring a node back online during an announced subnet recovery.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    iDRAC Access and TSR Logs

    How to reach the iDRAC out-of-band controller on Dell node machines and pull a Technical Support Report (TSR) for hardware diagnosis.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    RMU build — Gen-1.5

    Process for building a new Remote Management Unit to convert a Gen-1 site into a Gen-1.5 site — the staged path that adds remote access and tooling to the original Genesis hardware.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Gen-1 Node Provider onboarding Gen-2 node machines

    How an existing Gen-1 node provider can register and onboard Gen-2 node machines — the proposal flow, identity step, and topology limits that apply.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Gen-1 Node Onboarding After 48 Months

    How Gen-1 node providers continue earning rewards beyond their initial 48-month window, including reward reconfiguration, optional HSM removal, and excess machine handover.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Decentralization and Security Guide

    Operational practices that node providers should follow to defend the Internet Computer's decentralization — independence, supply-chain hygiene, physical security, and key handling.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Data Center and ISP Guide

    How node providers should approach selecting a data center and an ISP — distributing across countries, gathering quotes, and finalizing a colocation contract.

  • May 4, 2026·2 min

    Checking Node CPU and Memory Speed

    How to use a live Ubuntu USB and sysbench to measure memory bandwidth on a node, plus the firmware and BIOS fixes for known underperforming configurations.

  • May 4, 2026·4 min

    Changing the Node Provider or Data-Center Principal

    NNS proposal procedures for replacing a lost or transferred node provider principal, replacing a corrupted node operator HSM, and updating data-center principal records.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Changing the IPv6 Addresses of Nodes

    Why an IPv6 change forces a node redeployment, and the safe sequence for retiring the old node and bringing the replacement online.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    BMC Password Reset Guide

    How to reset the baseboard-management-controller password on the BMC variants used in the node fleet — ASUS, Gigabyte, Dell iDRAC9, and Supermicro.

  • May 4, 2026·3 min

    Adding Additional Node Machines to an Existing Allowance

    How an existing node provider with unused allowance brings additional node machines onto the network without going through the full onboarding flow.

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