Sui Testnet Wave 1
Report IssueMysten Labs is announcing the start of Sui Testnet Wave 1, the first instance of a Sui Network working with non-Mysten Labs operators, and an important step towards a decentralized Sui Mainnet. Testnet Wave 1 lets understand interoperability among validators, while Devnet remains the appropriate network for builders. The Testnet Wave 1 network will be kept running for approximately two to three weeks.
Details
Score Short Review Sui Testnet Wave 1
Crypto project Sui Testnet Wave 1 is classified as a Blockchain.
Details
Testnet Wave 1 focuses on operators. In August, Sui released an open application for Sui operators and received an overwhelming response, with over 28,000 applications. A few hundred were selected to operate Sui validators and Full Nodes. During this first wave, the team hopes to build muscle memory for decentralized coordination and incident response, and discover a core group of dedicated operators who are experienced with deploying, monitoring, and debugging Sui. The project will almost certainly encounter some bumps during its first attempt at operating a decentralized network, but these incidents will be learning experiences that provide valuable practice for the real thing.
As an incentivized Testnet Wave, this network will be transitory, shutting down once the goals will be achieved. Sui will stand up successive Testnet Waves as it proceeds to Mainnet.
With Sui, the team intends to set a new standard for web3 infrastructure. Unlike other blockchains, Sui uses an object-oriented data model to represent digital assets. Sui Devnet was launched on May 6, 2022 to put the theories of a next-generation blockchain to the test. As the 300,000-plus member community exercised various aspects of Devnet, the team enhanced instrumentation, strengthened monitoring and alerting, addressed bottlenecks in core logic, tested restartability and crash recovery, and profiled memory and CPU usage on various system components.
Sui Devnet versus Testnet
The biggest advance from Devnet to Testnet Wave 1 is the inclusion of independent validators. Under Devnet, Mysten Labs operates four validators to verify transactions on the network. Testnet Wave 1 includes third-party validators and Full Nodes selected from the open application process.
Incident management will move from Mysten Labs control, as conducted on Devnet, to community-driven on Testnet. This change gives community members greater input and responsibility for maintaining the health of Sui.
| Attribute | Devnet | Wave 1 Testnet |
| Validator set | Four Mysten Labs-operated validators | 20 validators |
| Full Node | Mysten Labs-operated plus community operated nodes | ~500 nodes, operated by both Mysten Labs and selected community members |
| Validator location | US-East | Geo-distributed |
| Duration | Permanent | ~2 to 3 weeks |
| Access | Public | Public |
| JSON API URL | https:// fullnode.devnet.sui.io:443 | https:// fullnode.testnet.sui.io:443 |
| Faucet | Discord channel | Discord channel |
| Release Cadence | Weekly release plus more frequent hot-fixes as necessary | Only updated as necessary |
| Data durability | Data wiped as part of regularly scheduled software updates | Data may be wiped as part of software updates (if any) |
| Incident Support | Mysten Lab oncalls and Mysten Lab incident management protocol | Mysten Lab oncalls plus necessary coordination with selected validators |
A note for the builders: Due to the transitory and operator-focused nature of Testnet Wave 1, Devnet remains the preferred environment for developers to build and test applications. Testnet may be subject to operational drills, and due to its geo-distributed nature may have longer coordination delays for fixes. The faucet may also be subject to rate limits to ensure a smooth experience for the operators. Developer experience issues will be addressed more expediently on Devnet, and the validator software will be updated more frequently.
Additionally, Move packages using the recently introduced new integer types (u16, u32, and u256) will not work in this Testnet Wave. Publishing them will fail with a verification error.
How to Engage
Building blockchain infrastructure requires transparency and public engagement. As the project moves towards Mainnet, the Sui community will continue to grow and play an increasing role in Sui’s operation. Stay tuned for Wave 2, which will focus on epoch management, tokenomics, and stake delegation. Sui will announce the timing based on the results and learnings from Wave 1.
NOTE: There are no current plans for a SUI airdrop, and interacting with the Testnet is not promising you any prizes. Sui team appreciates meaningful interaction that helps test Sui.
