By independently running node machines through data centers, a Node Provider supports decentralization for the entire blockchain when hosting a node. Node Providers are critical to the Internet Computer ecosystem, providing compute power to support the rapid growth of dapps, open internet services, DeFi, pan-industry platforms, and secure enterprise systems running on the Internet Computer.

The Network Nervous System (NNS) scales its capacity by forming new subnet blockchains, which Chain Key Cryptography combines into a single blockchain, called the Internet Computer. When subnets are created, new nodes will be scheduled for onboarding. In order to maintain the sovereignty of this physical layer (composed of independent nodes), the Internet Computer requires the nodes to be authorized by the community in a proposal to the NNS. 

You will first need your proposal to be approved to become a Node Provider, and to deploy nodes and receive rewards, you'll need an additional data center proposal. You'll also need to onboard nodes for some time before they are pulled into a subnet and the remuneration begins. Node Provider approval may take several weeks to process the request, purchase hardware, and make the data center selection. Hardware manufacturing is under extreme market pressure currently, compounding global shipping delays. The node procurement, deployment, and provisioning may take 2-3 months. 

Updated November 22, 2022 00:01