We’d like to share an update regarding an upcoming node transition, and ensure full alignment with the community before moving forward.
Here’s what’s happening:
Decentralized Entities Foundation - DEF (a nonprofit foundation) is acquiring 8 node machines from Carbon12, an existing node provider.
Out of these 8 nodes, 4 are currently located in Paris, and DEF plans to relocate them to Barcelona. This move is motivated by:
Decentralization: Spain belongs to a different regional cluster than France/Switzerland/Germany, improving geographic distribution.
Cost efficiency: Barcelona offers more sustainable long-term hosting costs.
Important clarification on subnet handling:
Currently, 3 of the 4 Paris nodes are part of active subnets. DEF will not move these machines before coordination with the Dfinity Foundation.
Instead, we’ll first request subnet migration to existing, available DEF nodes already deployed in Barcelona.
Only after these subnet responsibilities have been moved will we proceed with the physical relocation of the hardware from Paris to Barcelona.
This ensures a seamless transition with no risk to network stability and improved decentralization.
About Carbon12’s departure:
While Carbon12 is stepping away from node operations, this transition ensures continuity. The machines remain in the ecosystem, operated by DEF – a foundation with no shareholders.
I’d like to confirm the information shared above by the @DEF regarding the transition of eight node machines currently operated by Carbon Twelve.
As outlined:
DEF will be taking over the operation of these nodes.
Four nodes are located in Paris (PR1) and are planned to be relocated to Barcelona (ES1), where another four nodes are already hosted.
Three of the four nodes in PR1 are currently active in subnets. These will remain in place until they have been removed from subnets.
Why This Matters:
Carbon Twelve (C12) is stepping back from node operations for the time being, but we remain committed to supporting the growth and evolution of the ICP ecosystem. This transition ensures continuity of operations and allows us to remain engaged with the IC ecosystem.
Next Steps:
Remove Active Nodes from Subnets: Hi @alexu, may I request that DFINITY take the necessary steps to remove all nodes belonging to C12 from their respective subnets to enable their offboarding. Let me know if anything is needed from my side to support this.
Registry Removal: Once all nodes are removed from subnets, I will remove them from the registry.
Node Operator Record Proposals: Two proposals will be submitted to remove the node operator records for PR1 and ES1.
Physical Migration: Nodes currently in PR1 will be de-racked, transported, and re-racked in ES1. DEF will take over onboarding responsibilities.
Although C12 is stepping away from operations for now, we remain committed to the Internet Computer and intend to return in the future. As such, I will not be submitting a proposal to remove the Node Provider principal. We acknowledge that the onboarding process may evolve and are fully prepared to comply with any updated requirements should we decide to rejoin.
Reason:
In line with the forum post from NP Carbon Twelve the 5 proposals remove 5 healthy online nodes that are in use for offboarding and and replace them with unassigned healthy Awaiting status nodes as follows:
for subnet uzr34 node xll74 from Antwerp, Belgium is added to replace C12 node atjbz from Paris, France.
for subnet x33ed node 3krwb from Chicago, US is added to replace C12 node oobdg from Paris, France.
for subnet pzp6e node 3krwb from Antwerp, Belgium, is added to replace C12 node pqcqa from Barcelona, Spain.
Additional node zzuq4 from Hong Kong is replaced by v27at from Argentina in order to improve decentralization.
for subnet tdb26 node 2nehn from Isle of Man is added to replace C12 node tgbmf from Paris, France.
for subnet x33ed node tsbrx from Geneva is added to replace C12 node pekym from Barcelona, Spain.
CodeGov has a team of developers who review and vote independently on the following proposal topics: IC-OS Version Election, Protocol Canister Management, Subnet Management, Node Admin, and Participant Management. The CodeGov NNS known neuron is configured to follow our reviewers on these technical topics. We also have a group of Followees who vote independently on the Governance and the SNS & Neuron’s Fund topics. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee option that votes on every proposal and every proposal topic in the NNS. We also support decentralization of SNS projects such as WaterNeuron, KongSwap, and Alice with a known neuron and credible Followees.
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Proposal 137088 Vote: Adopt
This proposal replaces 1 node in subnet uzr34, appearing in the decentralization tool as “UP” and owned by node provider Carbon Twelve, who is planning to hand over its nodes as announced in this post. As shown in the proposal, decentralisation parameters are slightly worsened with respect to country and remain within the requirements of the target topology.
Proposal 137089 Vote: Adopt
This proposal replaces 1 node in subnet x33ed, appearing in the decentralization tool as “UP” and owned by node provider Carbon Twelve. As shown in the proposal, community-agreed decentralisation parameters are unchanged and remain within the requirements of the target topology.
Proposal 137090 Vote: Adopt
This proposal replaces 1 node in subnet pzp6e, appearing in the decentralization tool as “UP” and owned by node provider Carbon Twelve, along with an additional node. As shown in the proposal, decentralisation parameters are slightly worsened with respect to country and remain within the requirements of the target topology.
Proposal 137091 Vote: Adopt
This proposal replaces 1 node in subnet tdb26, appearing in the decentralization tool as “UP” and owned by node provider Carbon Twelve. As shown in the proposal, decentralisation parameters are unchanged and remain within the requirements of the target topology, although noting that an identified node cluster has 2 nodes in this subnet both before and after the change.
Proposal 137092 Vote: Adopt
This proposal replaces 1 node in subnet bkfrj, appearing in the decentralization tool as “UP” and owned by node provider Carbon Twelve. As shown in the proposal, decentralisation parameters are worsened with respect to country but remain within the requirements of the target topology.
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CodeGov has a team of developers who review and vote independently on the following proposal topics: IC-OS Version Election, Protocol Canister Management, Subnet Management, Node Admin and Participant Management. The CodeGov NNS known neuron is configured to follow our reviewers on these technical topics. We also have a group of Followees who vote independently on the Governance and the SNS & Neurons’ Fund topics. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee option that votes on every proposal and every proposal topic in the NNS. We also support decentralisation of SNS projects such as WaterNeuron, KongSwap, and Alice with a known neuron and credible Followees.
Learn more about CodeGov and its mission at codegov.org.
The proposal to register a new node operator id in data center ES1 (Barcelona 1) and add the allowance of 8 nodes which have been purchased by ‘Decentralized Entities Foundation’ from ‘Carbon Twelve’, has been sent https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/proposal/137203
Reason:
In line with the ongoing discussion in this thread as a next step NP Decentralized Entities Foundation is adding NO 6zkgt for 8 nodes in the ES1 Barcelona DC . The proposal is correct with dc id , node allowance and both NO and NP id in the payload.
About CodeGov
CodeGov has a team of developers who review and vote independently on the following proposal topics: IC-OS Version Election, Protocol Canister Management, Subnet Management, Node Admin, and Participant Management. The CodeGov NNS known neuron is configured to follow our reviewers on these technical topics. We also have a group of Followees who vote independently on the Governance and the SNS & Neuron’s Fund topics. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee option that votes on every proposal and every proposal topic in the NNS. We also support decentralization of SNS projects such as WaterNeuron, KongSwap, and Alice with a known neuron and credible Followees.
Learn more about CodeGov and its mission at codegov.org.
This proposal adds a new node operator ID for node provider Decentralized Entities Foundation. The node provider ID given in the proposal matches the information in the node provider record in the dashboard. The nodes to be acquired from Carbon Twelve are all Gen-2 nodes, so this proposal is not related to the processes outlined here for Gen-1 nodes. Prior to setting rewardable nodes for the new node operator ID, @C12 should submit a proposal to set their current rewardable nodes to zero or to remove their current node operators (which should have the same effect).
About CodeGov
CodeGov has a team of developers who review and vote independently on the following proposal topics: IC-OS Version Election, Protocol Canister Management, Subnet Management, API Boundary Node Management, Node Admin and Participant Management. The CodeGov NNS known neuron is configured to follow our reviewers on these technical topics. We also have a group of Followees who vote independently on the Governance and the SNS & Neurons’ Fund topics. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee option that votes on every proposal and every proposal topic in the NNS. We also support decentralisation of SNS projects such as WaterNeuron, KongSwap, and Alice with a known neuron and credible Followees.
Learn more about CodeGov and its mission at codegov.org.
The self-declaration document was uploaded on the IC Wiki
The Node Operator ID proposed is new
A statement, published on the IC wiki, signed by both the current and the new node provider
Currently the NP has a total of 14 type1.1 nodes which means it can add the proposed 8 nodes and still have a possibility of adding an additional 20 nodes before meeting the maximum number of nodes 42.
About CodeGov - reliable, credible, and sensible NNS governance CodeGov has a team of developers who review and vote independently on the following proposal topics: IC-OS Version Election, Protocol Canister Management, Subnet Management, Node Admin, and Participant Management. The CodeGov NNS known neuron is configured to follow our reviewers on these technical topics. We also have a group of Followees who vote independently on the Governance and the SNS & Neuron's Fund topics. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee option that votes on every proposal and every proposal topic in the NNS. We also support decentralization of SNS projects such as WaterNeuron, KongSwap, and Alice with a known neuron and credible Followees.
Learn more about CodeGov and its mission at codegov.org.
Proposal #137203 — Louise | Aviate Labs Vote: ADOPT Review
This proposal adds registers the principal 6zkgt, belonging to the NP Decentralized Entities Foundation, as a node operator ID. This ID will hold 8 nodes in the ES1 data center.
There are currently 4 nodes in ES1 and 4 nodes from PR1 (previously from Carbon Twelve) will be moved to ES1.
I have voted to adopt this proposal as it is purely administrative. Before accepting any proposal to configure rewards, I would like to see a signed handover statement between @DEF and @C12 before I vote to adopt any proposal to configure rewards. This has been required in all scenarios requiring a transfer. Currently their is only a handover statement between DEF and Archery Blockchain.
Side note:
Decentralization: Spain belongs to a different regional cluster than France/Switzerland/Germany, improving geographic distribution.
From my understanding, the level of geographic granularity considered in the target topology is at the country level. With this move, France would be entirely removed from the topology, as the four nodes in PR1 were the only ones located there (there are other data centers listed in France but they have 0 nodes). In effect, this reduces geographic diversity and further centralizes the topology from a country-level perspective.
Additionally, the acquisition by an existing Node Provider (@DEF) further contributes to centralization by removing Carbon Twelve as a Node Provider instead of introducing a new Node Provider. In contrast, previous transitions typically introduced a new Node Provider, thereby increasing decentralization. So while the sale is compliant, the net effect is centralizing, not decentralizing.
That said, DEF is fully within the current rules to carry out this transaction. Aviate Labs will vote to adopt this proposal because it meets all policy and technical requirements. However, I feel it’s important to flag this nuance for those reviewing the proposal. The claim that this move improves decentralization is, based on current topology logic, not accurate. In fact, the opposite may be true.
About Aviate Labs
Aviate Labs is a team dedicated to supporting node providers since 2020. Our mission is to make high-performance infrastructure management on the Internet Computer (ICP) as seamless as possible, while adhering to the principles of decentralization.
We are known for our contributions to the ecosystem, including the go-agent and developer work packages on GitHub, as well as the Node Monitortool, which alerts Node Providers as soon as any of their nodes go down.
In the NNS, Louise reviews and votes independently on ‘Node Admin’ and ‘Participant Management’ proposals on behalf of the Aviate Labs Neuron.
The Aviate Labs known neuron is configured to follow Louise for these topics and other trusted entities for broader proposals. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee, committed to voting on every proposal and supporting decentralization within the ICP ecosystem.
Proposal #137412 — Louise | Aviate Labs Vote: REJECT Review
This proposal increases type3.1 rewardable nodes of the NO 6zkgt from 0 to 8.
All nodes are healthy on the dashboard
Correct remuneration type is used
The reason to reject is because there is no signed handover statement for this transition posted on the self declaration page of DEF on the wiki.
This document has been required in all scenarios where a transfer of nodes has occurred and I did flag this in my previous review.
About Aviate Labs
Aviate Labs is a team dedicated to supporting node providers since 2020. Our mission is to make high-performance infrastructure management on the Internet Computer (ICP) as seamless as possible, while adhering to the principles of decentralization.
We are known for our contributions to the ecosystem, including the go-agent and developer work packages on GitHub, as well as the Node Monitortool, which alerts Node Providers as soon as any of their nodes go down.
In the NNS, Louise reviews and votes independently on ‘Node Admin’ and ‘Participant Management’ proposals on behalf of the Aviate Labs Neuron.
The Aviate Labs known neuron is configured to follow Louise for these topics and other trusted entities for broader proposals. We strive to be a credible and reliable Followee, committed to voting on every proposal and supporting decentralization within the ICP ecosystem.
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