In a future world with millions of blockchains — some with general purpose functionality but most designed for specific applications — Rollups-as-a-Service (RaaS) platforms will become increasingly important as we scale the Ethereum network.

AWS has created a cloud platform that enables startups to save high hardware investment and infrastructure maintenance and operation costs, so that they can operate more agilely and create products that were previously impossible. RaaS platforms are also providing similar services for deploying and maintaining blockchains.

But what qualities should an ideal RaaS platform possess? And what factors should you consider when choosing a partner to deploy and maintain your rollup?

High availability sequencer

When evaluating a RaaS platform, the first thing to consider is the quality of their sorter. High-availability sorters such as Conduit Elector are essential to operating a reliable chain.

The sorter plays a key role in processing and sorting transactions on the rollup. Any downtime or instability may cause problems and delays, leading to user frustration and ultimately affecting revenue. For any application chain, having a reliable sorter is a basic condition for providing uninterrupted service.

What uptime do RaaS platforms guarantee? What failover mechanisms do they have in place?

Adaptive RPC

Scalability is one of the core benefits of rollup technology. The performance of your rollup relies on its ability to adapt to varying network traffic. Adaptive remote procedure calls (RPCs) are essential to handling whatever transaction volume your chain requires.

The RaaS platform you choose should be able to handle all of your rollup’s scaling needs without requiring you to do it yourself or rely on third-party services.

This means that the platform should provide the necessary infrastructure and tooling to automatically scale RPC resources, ensuring that your rollup can handle increased traffic demands as the chain processes more transactions.

Supporting infrastructure

A rollup is incomplete without supporting infrastructure. Tools such as bridges, block explorers, and transaction trackers should be readily available when deploying a rollup through a RaaS platform.

Bridges allow users to transfer assets in and out of your chain. Block explorers allow users to visualize on-chain data. Transaction trackers help developers and auditors analyze transaction activity and identify possible issues.

When choosing a RaaS platform, make sure they offer these tools to simplify and speed up your rollup deployment process.

integrated

Integration can significantly expand your rollup capabilities. Look for a platform that supports integration with popular, high-quality crypto products and services.

For example, integrations with platforms like Tenderly and Dune can give you additional debugging and analytics capabilities, simplifying the process of tracking and optimizing rollup performance.

A complete integrated ecosystem is a key indicator of a strong RaaS platform.

Expert guidance

Rolling out a rollup can be a complex process, especially when your team isn’t fully prepared. A valuable RaaS platform should provide guidance and support to ensure smooth deployment and reliable operation of your chain. This includes 24/7 support and monitoring, technical assistance, documentation, and educational resources.

Choose a platform that is committed to helping you master the essence of rollup technology and progress with you.

Ongoing maintenance and operation

Your partnership with the platform should not be limited to the mainnet launch. Launching your own chain requires ongoing maintenance and monitoring. A trusted RaaS platform will continue to support you and your users’ needs after the mainnet launch, and accompany your chain throughout its growth.

While your chain is running, top RaaS platforms will continue to provide services such as technology upgrades, problem monitoring, new tools, practical integrations, etc.

in conclusion

Choosing the right Rollups-as-a-Service platform is a critical decision when launching your own chain.

These key factors can significantly impact the success or failure of your app chain. At Conduit, we offer all of the above services to our clients and are constantly adding to them.

We help companies like Zora, Gitcoin, and Aevo unlock the valuable benefits of rollups, allowing them to focus on building great products for their users without being distracted by security and DevOps issues.