Goal: Understand the validator role without touching servers.

Cover: Identity, vote, and withdraw keys (high level), uptime and vote credits, software versions and upgrades, client diversity, MEV policy and transparency.

Activity: Compare two validators (uptime, commission, policy) with a simple rubric.

Takeaway: “I know what makes a reliable validator.”

1) Module overview

Validators keep Solana running by gossiping blocks and transactions, proposing blocks in their leader slots, and voting on other leaders’ blocks. As a delegator, you don’t need ops skills — you need to read signals of reliability: consistent votes (uptime), reasonable commission, clear upgrade and MEV policies, and good community transparency.

2) Core talking points: keys → work → software → policy

Keys and accounts (non‑technical view)

• Identity key: the validator’s “ID,” used to talk to the network.
• Vote account and voter key: where the validator records votes and earns vote credits (the main performance signal).
• Withdrawer key: can withdraw rewards from the vote account (often a secure multisig).

Why it matters: these roles separate operations (voting) from custody (withdrawing rewards).

What “good performance” means

• Uptime / vote credits: reliably voting on leader blocks; higher and steadier credits = better rewards share for delegators.
• Low delinquency: few missed votes or long offline periods.
• Stable commission: predictable fee, not swinging wildly.

Software and upgrades