Set up a node.
Observation nodes enable you to monitor network activity and submit transactions. These nodes remain outside the network and have no effect on consensus or blocks. Although running an observation node is optional, we recommend deploying one as best practice if you are going to submit a lot of transactions.
Why deploy an observation node?

Your own Observation Nodes provide several benefits over public ones. They:

  • Are more secure, because transactions are not sent through a third party.

  • Can accept more requests per second, because they are not rate-limited.

  • Allow Flare Time Series Oracle data providers more time to gather price data before submitting, because of the time savings.

How do you deploy an observation node?

You can deploy an Observation Node for the Flare, Songbird, Coston, and Coston2 networks. For each network, you’ll need to meet certain hardware and software requirements. The Flare and Songbird hardware requirements are greater than those for the Coston and Coston2 networks. See Prerequisites for Deploying an Observation Node.

When you meet the requirements, you can install the Flare software and run the node. (See Deploying an Observation Node.) Then you can begin observing the network and submitting transactions.