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General Introduction & Requirements for Installing ARO Client

ARO Client Introduction​

The ARO Network is a permissionless Edge Cloud designed to leverage diverse resources. To support this, ARO provides a software image (the ARO Client) that can be installed on various devices.

Note that the ARO Client is geared toward advanced users, requiring greater technical expertise from the operator.

General Requirements that are strongly recommended for all ARO Client Software (especially for operators with business-level bandwidth):

  • Static IP & Public IP
  • NAT Type: Full Cone NAT or higher (e.g., NAT0, DMZ NAT1, UPnP NAT1)
  • CPU Clock Speed: ≥ 2 GHz
  • Disk:
    • SSD with NVMe protocol
    • Random 4K Read IOPS ≥ 30,000

Port Requirements for all ARO Client Software:

  • TCP: 80, 443, 9500-9700
  • UDP: All ports

Hardware Specifications Requirements for running ARO Client based on your bandwidth. If your bandwidth falls between the listed values, you can estimate the requirements by interpolating linearly.

BandwidthCPU threadsRAMSystem DiskData DiskNetwork Card
Basic Mode with < 1 Gbps bandwitdh:
100 Mbps≥ 4≥ 4 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 200 GB SSD100 Mbps
500 Mbps≥ 6≥ 12 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 500 GB SSD1 Gbps
800 Mbps≥ 8≥ 16 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 800 GB SSD2.5 Gbps
Professional Mode with > 1 Gbps bandwitdh:
2 Gbps≥ 32≥ 32 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 2 TB SSD10 Gbps
5 Gbps≥ 48≥ 64 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 5 TB SSD10 Gbps
10 Gbps≥ 96≥ 128 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 10 TB SSD10 Gbps
20 Gbps≥ 192≥ 256 GB≥ 200 GB SSD≥ 20 TB SSD10 Gbps * 2

Suggestions and notes on the hardware specifications:

  • The ARO Client has two operating strategies: running in Basic Mode or Professional Mode. This distinction is determined by the characteristics of the PCDN services: PCDN requires large professional nodes to provide stable, high-performance service capabilities, while also needing numerous small, low-cost nodes to offer more geographically distributed locations and enhance overall network availability.

  • Basic Mode are primarily designed for small household bandwidth scenarios (< 1 Gbps) and have relatively low hardware requirements.

  • Professional Mode are aimed at large commercial-grade bandwidth scenarios (> 1 Gbps) and have very high hardware requirements, which are generally not achievable in typical home environments.

  • We recommend that when preparing to deploy an ARO Client node, you clearly choose one of these two running modes based on your actual situation. At the same time, try to avoid being "in between" — for example, pairing 1 Gbps bandwidth with a 16-thread CPU.

  • When adding new node to your Dashboard, you will be asked to choose the preferred mode (Basic Mode or Professional Mode).

  • Additionally, please note that the specifications mentioned here apply only to the hardware configuration of the host machine. For the virtual machine resources used by the PCDN Worker, please refer to the relevant PCDN Worker tutorials.

ARO Client Installation - General Guide & Important Notes​

IMPORTANT - Read Before Install:

  • The ARO Client software image currently supports only x86 architecture. Do NOT attempt to run the ARO Client on ARM or other alternative architectures.
  • Running the ARO Client in a virtual machine (VM) environment is NOT supported.
  • To install the ARO Client, a bare-metal machine running a Debian operating system (Version 11 or higher) is required as a prerequisite.

General Steps to Follow:

  1. If you do not have Debian installed, refer to Operating System Tutorial guide.
  2. If you are ready with the operating system, refer to Installation & Initialization Tutorial for ARO Client.
  3. Install PCDN Client (refer to PCDN Worker Installation Tutorial) to enable edge service capabilities for your ARO Client.

Special Notes for VM Installations (Legacy)​

IMPORTANT - If you are running a VM-based installation of ARO Client:

  • The VM-based installation is deprecated and no longer supported due to performance limitations, particularly for commercial edge services.

  • If you are currently using a VM-based installation of the ARO Client (e.g., from the Previewnet phase when VM installations were supported), we strongly recommend migrating to the new installation method as soon as possible.