Subsquid is a project that extracts and transforms on-chain data in order to present it as a GraphQL API. “Squids” are developed using the Subsquid SDK, which provides extensive tooling to define data schemas, data transformation rules, and the shape of the resulting API.

Why is indexing the blockchain important and a complex issue to solve?

Indexing the blockchain is crucial because it allows for easier and faster search and retrieval of information from the blockchain. As the size of the blockchain grows, it becomes increasingly more challenging and time-consuming to find specific transactions or data with an efficient indexing system.

However, indexing the blockchain can be complex to solve because of the decentralized nature of blockchain technology. Unlike traditional databases, where a central authority can maintain and update the index, the blockchain is updated simultaneously by numerous nodes on the network. This means that indexing must be done in a decentralized manner, and any update to the index must be verified by the network to ensure accuracy and security.

Blockchains also store a massive amount of data, with each block containing numerous transactions and the number of blocks growing regularly. This requires significant computational power and storage capacity to store and index all the data.

Overall, creating an efficient and secure blockchain indexer requires solving complex technical challenges, balancing decentralization with accuracy and scalability, and adapting to the unique characteristics of blockchain technology.

This is the main issue Subsquid aims to solve with its SDK while specializing in data lakes with the on-chain data, which they call “archives”. They differentiate this raw data from the data transformation and presentation which they named “squids”.

“Reliability and High throughput are essential as we need to ingest millions of blocks for our Archives. We would be happy to get even more throughput as we scale and grow in our partnership with Blast”

Support for several chains

Supporting several blockchains as an indexer SDK is important for developers because it provides them with the flexibility to choose which blockchain to use for their specific use case. Different blockchains have different characteristics, such as speed, scalability, security, transaction fees, and consensus mechanisms, and these factors can influence which blockchain would work best for a particular application.

By providing an indexer SDK that supports multiple blockchains, such as Subsquid, developers can write their application once and have it work seamlessly on different blockchain networks. This makes it easier for developers to build applications that can take advantage of the unique features of different blockchains without having to learn and adapt to each blockchain’s unique syntax and API.

Subsquid supports around 20 EVM networks and every Polkadot ecosystem chain. Developers are currently using Subsquid to access data from around 100 chains. Blast enables this possibility by supporting 41 different networks and 23 different chains.

Why is Blast essential when building a high-performing indexer?

Subsquid is used to build powerful data-powered features into dApps and other blockchain-facing applications to do analytics and complete business intelligence tasks. These amazing features are achievable if the node provider can keep up with the throughput and is reliable enough with the data.

“Before Blast we had issues with unreliable node providers, inadequate pricing and a complete lack of customer support. Now we have lowered our costs, improved reliability, straightforward billing and great customer service.”

A high-performance indexer, such as Subsquid, needs to access hundreds or thousands of nodes to maintain an accurate index. Constantly keeping data up to date with the blockchain requires a lot of requests per day (currently 2M+ for Subsquid). This can skyrocket the cost of maintaining the data lakes or so called archives.

Blast ensures that the resources required to maintain an accurate index are accessible at a manageable cost, providing reliable service to users while keeping profitability in mind.

One last thing to mention is Blast’s customer service which has played a key role in the development of Subsquid. At Blast, we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer support to all our clients. We aim to ensure developers have everything they need to succeed, from comprehensive and complete documentation to a 99.9% SLA. We understand that when issues arise, giving solutions in a timely manner is utterly important, which is why we offer 24/7 on-call engineering support to our clients. We also provide 24/7 monitoring and alerting to minimize downtime and ensure that our client’s applications are always running smoothly. In addition to these essential services, we provide developer and dedicated support services on Discord tailored to the needs of each subscription plan. For our enterprise-level clients, we go even further, providing a dedicated Account Manager to ensure that their needs are met and that they are getting the most out of our services.

Conclusion

We are proud to support Subsquid as an infrastructure partner and are impressed by their innovative approach to blockchain indexing. Their use of Blast API as a decentralized node provider is a testament to our services’ reliability and performance. We look forward to continuing our partnership as they scale and grow.

With Blast’s support for 41 different networks and 23 different chains, Subsquid is empowered to provide services to over 100 chains. Blast’s reliability, high throughput, reasonable pricing, and great customer support have allowed Subsquid to lower its costs, improve reliability, and offer straightforward billing to its users.

Together, Subsquid and Blast are working towards a future where developers can easily build powerful blockchain applications without worrying about the complexities of indexing on-chain data. As Subsquid continues to scale and grow, they are excited to have Blast’s support to enable even more throughput to ingest millions of blocks for their Archives.

Find more info about this case study on our website.