Capacity & Throughput

Obsidian is optimized for low-latency, high-frequency data publication. Through the Silica Protocol, the system can sustain 10,000+ messages/second while data throughput scales independently of EVM execution.

Message Capacity

Per Slot

Metric	Value
Lane count	8 parallel lanes
SM per lane	2 MB
PM per lane	2 MB
Total SM per slot	16 MB (8 × 2 MB)
Total PM per slot	16 MB (8 × 2 MB)
Combined max per slot	32 MB
Max message size	8 KB
Slot time	12 seconds

Message throughput is constrained by:

• Per-lane sidecar limits (maxSmSidecarBytes, maxPmSidecarBytes).

• Slot time (SECONDS_PER_SLOT, default 12s).

• Lane count (default 8).

Per Day

Metric	Calculation	Value
Slots per day	86,400 / 12	7,200
Max SM per day	7,200 × 16	115.2 GB
Max PM per day	7,200 × 16	115.2 GB
Max total / day	7,200 × 32	230.4 GB

Per-lane sidecar limits determine the upper bound for messages:

• slotsPerDay = 86,400 / SECONDS_PER_SLOT (default: 7,200)

• maxBytesPerSlot = laneCount × (maxSmSidecarBytes + maxPmSidecarBytes)

• maxMessagesPerSlot = maxBytesPerSlot / avgMessageSize

Realistic Throughput

Actual throughput depends on message sizes:

Avg Message Size	Messages/Slot (upper bound)	Messages/Day (upper bound)
1 KB	32,000 (32 MB / 1 KB)	230 million
8 KB (max)	4,000 (32 MB / 8 KB)	28.8 million

Practical throughput depends on lane utilization and message distribution.

Latency

Scenario	Time
PM (low competition)	~12 seconds (next slot)
PM (high competition)	~12 seconds (if top bid in lane)
SM (lane has space)	~12 seconds (next slot)
SM (lane busy)	Variable (FIFO within lane)
Finality	~192 seconds (2 epochs)

Lane Limits

Parameter	Value	Notes
SM per lane per slot	2 MB	maxSmSidecarBytes
PM per lane per slot	2 MB	maxPmSidecarBytes
Total per lane	4 MB	SM + PM combined per lane
Total per slot	32 MB	8 lanes × 4 MB
Max headers per lane	1	maxHeadersPerLanePerSlot
Max msgs per header	1000	maxMessageCountPerHeader

When mempool is full, new messages are rejected until space opens.

Growth Projections

Data growth depends on average message size and lane utilization:

• slotsPerDay = 7,200

• maxBytesPerSlot = 8 lanes × 4 MB = 32 MB

• maxDailyBytes = 7,200 × 32 MB = 230.4 GB

• maxYearlyBytes = 230.4 GB × 365 = ~84 TB

This is why sharded archives matter.