Ironforge

Introduction

Ironforge is essentially a one-stop DevOps platform built specifically for Web3 developers, especially those working on the Solana blockchain. Ironforge offers a serverless environment with tools for observability, incident management, and robust networking and security control, rather than getting tangled up in backend setup and infrastructure maintenance.

In simple terms, it lets developers focus on building their applications while Ironforge handles the underlying technical details like RPC routing, monitoring, and load balancing.

Key Features

Smart RPC Routing

Ironforge lets you connect to multiple Solana RPC endpoints and automatically routes your request for the best performance. There are two types of routing strategies for distributing your incoming RPC request across multiple Solana RPC endpoints provided by Ironforge Load Balancer.

• Primary Routing: This is the default routing strategy for all RPC methods.
• Dynamic Routing: It allows you to assign specific endpoints to specific RPC methods.

Real-time Monitoring and Alerts

You can track your app’s performance and get instant alerts if something goes wrong. Before they impact your services, by setting up alerts, you can proactively respond to the issues.

Here are some examples of the alerts you can create:

• Monitor transaction success rate - you can create a notification when they fall below 90%.
• Track RPC endpoint performance - create an alert for 20%+ latency increases.
• Stay informed about service availability - get notified when uptime drops below 90%.

Firewall and Access Control

You can create custom firewall rules to block certain RPC methods, limit requests from suspicious IP addresses, or whitelist trusted ones. This gives you better security without extra coding.

The Firewall feature can be configured in two ways:

• Default Mode: In default, all requests are allowed, but developers can create rules to block specific requests.
• Firewall Mode: In this mode, all requests are blocked, but developers can create rules to allow specific requests. A firewall rule defines a set of conditions that must be fulfilled before a specific action will be taken.

Detailed Transaction Analytics

Ironforge shows insights into your Solana transactions, like how many compute units sold, how much they cost, success/failure rates, and more. This helps you optimize your app and reduce costs.

Load Balancers

Ironforge Load balancers let developers distribute RPC requests across multiple Solana endpoints with customizable routing and load balancing. You can choose between two routing strategies, Primary and Dynamic to control how each RPC method call is directed.

Two load balancing algorithms are available:

• Sequential - Sends requests to the first available endpoint in your set list. If it fails, the request moves to the next until successful. You control the order of endpoints.
• Parallel - Sends requests to all endpoints at once and uses the first successful response. This reduces response time and boosts performance but offers less customization and may cost more with heavy usage.

Simple Dashboard

Everything is managed through an easy-to-use dashboard. You don’t need deep DevOps knowledge to set up and monitor your infrastructure.

How It Works

Using Ironforge is straightforward, even for beginners. You start by signing up and connecting your Solana project to the platform through its dashboard. From there, you can set up your RPC endpoints, choose how requests are routed, and enable monitoring to track performance in real time.

And if you want extra protection, you can add firewall rules to control who can access your app’s data and functions. As your app runs, Ironforge automatically collects analytics, like transaction success rates and resource usage, which you can view anytime to make improvements.

Essentially, you build and deploy your app as usual, while Ironforge works in the background to keep it fast, secure, and reliable without you having to manage complex server setups.

Why It Matters (for Solana Users)

Ironforge matters for Solana users because it helps keep the network experience smooth, fast, and reliable, whether you are staking, trading, or exploring dApps. For stakers, reliable RPC connections mean your transaction, like delegating or delegating SOL, are confirmed quickly and without interruptions.

Traders benefit from low-latency routing that reduces delays during high-volume market activity, helping them execute orders at the right time. Explorers and developers can rely on its analytics and monitoring tools to track transaction performance, debug errors, and ensure data accuracy.

By providing stability, security, and performance optimization in once platform, Ironforge makes interacting with the Solana blockchain more efficient and frustration-free for everyone.

How to Use It

Here’s a quick start to getting started with Ironforge:

• Create an account on the Ironforge.cloud website.

• Log in to your Ironforge dashboard.
• Add RPC Endpoints into the RPC Endpoints section.
• Click the “+ New Project” in the top right corner under the Load Balancer section.
• Then name your project and configure any necessary settings, including RPC Endpoints you want to include.
• You will be provided with an API Key and Endpoint URL once created. You can use this endpoint in your application to route your RPC requests through Ironforge.

Once you begin sending requests to your project, you can check your application’s health by navigating between the different Analytics and Logs pages as needed.

Configuring Endpoints

If you are having a problem with how to configure the endpoints, here’s how you do it.

Step 1. Log in to your Ironforge dashboard.

Step 2. Then navigate to the “RPC Endpoints” section in the sidebar, once you are in the dashboard.

Step 3. Add a new endpoint by clicking the “+ New Endpoint” button in the top right corner. You can add all your RPC endpoints here.

Step 4. You will be asked for the following details while adding the endpoint:

• Name
• Endpoint URL
• Cluster
• Metadata

Step 5. Then click the “Create” button, and your endpoint will be added to the dashboard.

Step 6. You can also edit or delete an endpoint from the dashboard.

Milestones