Bootstrap Peers And Relay Placement

Bootstrap peers and relay peers solve different problems.

• bootstrap peers help a node find the network
• relay-capable peers help a node keep forwarding traffic when direct paths fail

Do not collapse those roles conceptually even if one machine does both.

Bootstrap Selection

A good bootstrap peer should be:

• usually online
• reachable from all expected nodes
• stable enough that operators can hardcode its address

For the showcase config, relay is the obvious bootstrap target for alpha, beta, and gamma because it is intended to stay reachable and already sits in the middle of the topology.

Relay Placement

A good relay-capable node should be:

• on a stable network
• likely to have public reachability
• not overloaded by unrelated workloads

The relay should not own a special identity class. It remains a normal allowlisted peer with:

• a normal libself identity
• a normal overlay prefix
• relay_capable = true in the allowlist

Practical Rule

If you only have one machine that is always online, that machine will usually be:

• the first bootstrap peer
• the first relay-capable peer

If you later add better infrastructure, keep bootstrap and relay decisions explicit in config rather than assuming every bootstrap peer should relay traffic.