Join the DAL as a baker in 5 steps
The Tezos data availability layer (DAL) is a key component for the scalability of Tezos. In a nutshell, the DAL increases the data bandwidth available for Tezos Smart Rollups by providing a peer-to-peer network that they can use to fetch data without compromising security.
When users and dApps submit data to the DAL, layer 1 nodes attest that it is available and DAL nodes distribute it to Smart Rollup nodes, which can store the data and use it.
Just like layer 1, Tezos bakers ensure the security of the DAL. Bakers not only produce blocks but also attest that other bakers' blocks are valid and properly published on layer 1. In the same way, bakers attest that data published to the DAL is available. In the current implementation of the DAL, bakers do not receive extra incentives for attesting DAL data, but they might in the future. For now, bakers can join the DAL without risking any reward loss, ensuring a smooth transition.
In this tutorial, you learn how to join Ghostnet as a baker and attest the publication of data on the DAL network on Ghostnet. The steps for participating on any other network, including Tezos Mainnet, are similar.
This tutorial includes setting up a baker to attest that data is available on the DAL. Depending on the network, it takes time for bakers to get attestation rights. The delay on Ghostnet is about 3.5 days, so in this tutorial you do setup work, wait 3.5 days for attestation rights, and verify that your DAL node and baker are working properly.
Tutorial diagram
In this tutorial, you set up the Octez client and several Octez daemons, including a layer 1 node, a baker, and a DAL node. The following diagram shows these daemons with a blue background:
Prerequisites
This tutorial requires Docker Desktop. To install Docker Desktop, see https://www.docker.com.
References
- For an overview of the DAL, see Data Availability Layer.
- For an introduction to how the DAL works, see the tutorial Implement a file archive with the DAL and a Smart Rollup.
- For technical information about the DAL, see Data-Availability Layer in the Octez documentation.
This tutorial uses a very simple setup running all required daemons on the same machine. In a production environment, we advise against running a DAL attester node under the same IP address than a baker's node because the DAL node may leak the IP address and ease DOS attacks on the baker. See also the DAL documentation page on baking.