Why Does Solana Keep Having Network Outages?

Solana targets very high transaction throughput with extremely low fees and near-instant confirmations. Since mainnet launch in 2020, the network has experienced seven complete outages, including a 17-hour event in September 2021. During that outage, bots flooded the network around a Raydium IDO, pushing transaction loads beyond 300,000 per second on some validators. Solana’s architecture optimizes every layer for throughput, leaving little room for error. Its Proof-of-History clock runs alongside Proof-of-Stake validators, and when validators disagree on chain state, the network halts rather than compensating. Limited client diversity means a single software bug can trigger system-wide failure.

"Solana was built for speed , and that choice comes with a cost. Most blockchains slow down deliberately to stay safe. Solana does the opposite-every layer is optimized for throughput, which leaves very little room for error. The core of the problem is how Solana handles consensus. It runs a Proof-of-History (PoH) clock alongside Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validators, which is brilliant for speed but rigid under pressure. When validators disagree on the state of the chain, even slightly, the network doesn't try to work around it-it halts completely. That's a deliberate trade-off that puts consistency ahead of staying online."

"Then there's the lack of client diversity. For most of its history, nearly every Solana validator ran the same software. One bug in that codebase, and the entire network goes down at once. It's the same way one flawed lock would open every door in a building where every door used it."

"Solana ( ) promises 65,000 transactions per second, fees so low they barely register, and confirmations that clear almost instantly. On paper, it looks like the blockchain the industry kept promising, but since the mainnet went live in 2020, the network has gone completely dark seven times. Traders were locked out of their positions, and protocols stopped dead, and developers had nothing to do but stare at dashboards and hit refresh."

"The worst came in September 2021 and lasted 17 hours. Bots flooded the network during an IDO launch on Raydium, pushing transaction loads past 300,000 per second on some validators. There were no spam filters or p"

Read at 24/7 Wall St.