> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://injectivelabs-mintlify-25e241d4.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> Run, upgrade, and maintain Injective validator nodes, sentry nodes, and supporting infrastructure.

This section covers everything needed to operate on the Injective network: setting up nodes, managing upgrades, running the bridge orchestrator, and configuring indexer services.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Architecture" href="#architecture" arrow="true" cta="Learn more" icon="sitemap">
    Node types, network topology, consensus layer, and process management
  </Card>

  <Card title="Node Operation" href="/infra/run-node" arrow="true" cta="Get started" icon="server">
    Set up your keyring, configure validators, interact with nodes, and manage Cosmovisor
  </Card>
</Columns>

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Join A Network" href="/infra/join-a-network" arrow="true" cta="Sync a node" icon="network-wired">
    Install the binary, sync with mainnet or testnet via snapshots, state sync, or block sync
  </Card>

  <Card title="Upgrades" href="/infra/upgrade-node" arrow="true" cta="Upgrade guide" icon="arrow-up">
    Chain upgrade procedures, Coordinated Upgrades troubleshooting, and the Operator Portal
  </Card>
</Columns>

***

## Architecture

Injective uses CometBFT (formerly Tendermint) consensus with a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) mechanism, achieving sub-second finality. The network requires bare metal servers with enterprise-grade specifications (128GB RAM, high-clock-speed CPUs, NVMe storage) to handle high-throughput trading activity.

### Node types

| Node                                                | Role                                                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Validator Node**                                  | Participates in consensus by proposing and voting on blocks. Requires staked INJ as collateral and high-availability hardware.                         |
| **[Sentry Node](/developers/concepts/sentry-node)** | A full node that shields validators from direct public exposure by relaying traffic, acting as a gateway between the validator and the public network. |

### Key components

| Component                                                                     | Purpose                                                                                                                                                                            |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **[Cosmovisor](/infra/cosmovisor)**                                           | Process manager that automates chain binary upgrades, enabling zero-downtime transitions when governance-approved upgrades occur. See [Node Operation](/infra/run-node) for setup. |
| **[Peggo](/infra/validator-mainnet/peggo)**                                   | Bridge orchestrator that relays messages between Ethereum and Injective. Mandatory for validators.                                                                                 |
| **[WebSocket Server](https://github.com/InjectiveFoundation/injective-core)** | Streams real-time chain events over WebSocket, wrapping the gRPC Chain Stream server for standard WebSocket connections.                                                           |

### Chain upgrades

Injective periodically undergoes coordinated software upgrades at predetermined block heights. All nodes must switch to the new binary to maintain consensus. See [Upgrades](/infra/upgrade-node) for procedures and the [Coordinated Upgrades](/infra/coordinated-upgrades) guide for troubleshooting.