Step 3: Installing Execution Client

Overview of Execution Layer implementations and selection criteria.

Step 3: Installing Execution Client

The Execution Client (EL) is the heavy lifter of your Ethereum node. Formerly known as "Eth1," this software is responsible for:

1. State Management: Maintaining the database of account balances, smart contract code, and storage.

2. Transaction Processing: executing transactions in the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine).

3. Mempool: Holding pending transactions and gossiping them to peers.

🔄 The Engine API

Post-Merge, the Execution Client cannot sync the chain on its own. It waits for instructions from the Consensus Client (Step 4) via the authenticated Engine API port (8551).

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Select an Implementation

Ethereum allows you to choose from several production-grade clients. While they all follow the same protocol, they differ in programming language, resource usage, and specific optimizations.

SyncNode recommends the following implementations:

Client	Codebase	Best For	Complexity
Nethermind	C# / .NET	Validators & MEV. Highly optimized for execution speed.	Moderate
Besu	Java	Enterprise. Excellent licensing (Apache 2.0) and stability.	Moderate
Geth	Go	Standard. The most widely used and battle-tested client.	Low
Erigon	Go	Archive Nodes. Uses <3TB for a full archive (vs 15TB+ for Geth).	High
Reth	Rust	Performance. Next-gen client with extremely fast sync times.	Moderate

⚠️ Client Diversity Notice

The health of the Ethereum network relies on operators running a diverse set of clients. Using a minority client (Nethermind, Besu, Reth) protects your node from "supermajority bugs" that could slash Geth users during a chain split.

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Installation Method

In the following guides, we will install the client as a Systemd Service.

This method is preferred for institutional setups because:

• Auto-Restart: If the process crashes, the OS restarts it immediately.

• Boot Safety: The node starts automatically when the server reboots.

• Log Management: journalctl handles log rotation automatically, preventing disk overflow.

⏭️ Choose Your Path

Select the execution client you wish to install from the menu to proceed.