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EtherBee: A Global Dataset of Ethereum Node Performance Measurements Coupled with Honeypot Interactions and Full Network Sessions

Scott Seidenberger, Anindya Maiti

TL;DR

EtherBee presents a global, multimodal dataset that fuses Ethereum node metrics, network traffic metadata, and honeypot logs collected from ten vantage points over three months to enable holistic analysis of node performance, P2P topology, and security threats. By linking operational data with rich security telemetry, the work enables new investigations into performance, reliability, and decentralization dynamics in the Ethereum network. A key finding is that latency-based peer pruning can unintentionally centralize connectivity along major geographic and undersea cable routes, with implications for resilience and censorship resistance. The dataset and methodology offer a valuable resource for researchers studying decentralized networks, with accessible exports to tabular formats to facilitate broad reuse.

Abstract

We introduce EtherBee, a global dataset integrating detailed Ethereum node metrics, network traffic metadata, and honeypot interaction logs collected from ten geographically diverse vantage points over three months. By correlating node data with granular network sessions and security events, EtherBee provides unique insights into benign and malicious activity, node stability, and network-level threats in the Ethereum peer-to-peer network. A case study shows how client-based optimizations can unintentionally concentrate the network geographically, impacting resilience and censorship resistance. We publicly release EtherBee to promote further investigations into performance, reliability, and security in decentralized networks.

EtherBee: A Global Dataset of Ethereum Node Performance Measurements Coupled with Honeypot Interactions and Full Network Sessions

TL;DR

EtherBee presents a global, multimodal dataset that fuses Ethereum node metrics, network traffic metadata, and honeypot logs collected from ten vantage points over three months to enable holistic analysis of node performance, P2P topology, and security threats. By linking operational data with rich security telemetry, the work enables new investigations into performance, reliability, and decentralization dynamics in the Ethereum network. A key finding is that latency-based peer pruning can unintentionally centralize connectivity along major geographic and undersea cable routes, with implications for resilience and censorship resistance. The dataset and methodology offer a valuable resource for researchers studying decentralized networks, with accessible exports to tabular formats to facilitate broad reuse.

Abstract

We introduce EtherBee, a global dataset integrating detailed Ethereum node metrics, network traffic metadata, and honeypot interaction logs collected from ten geographically diverse vantage points over three months. By correlating node data with granular network sessions and security events, EtherBee provides unique insights into benign and malicious activity, node stability, and network-level threats in the Ethereum peer-to-peer network. A case study shows how client-based optimizations can unintentionally concentrate the network geographically, impacting resilience and censorship resistance. We publicly release EtherBee to promote further investigations into performance, reliability, and security in decentralized networks.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 9 sections, 3 equations, 2 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction and Related Work
  2. Data Collection
  3. Network Traffic Capture
  4. Node Metrics and Honeypot Logs
  5. Case Study
  6. Motivation & Setup
  7. Key Findings
  8. Conclusion and Data Release
  9. Acknowledgments

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Daily byte-weighted average distance to peers for each vantage point over 107 days, with linear regression and 7-day smoothing.
  • Figure 2: Data-weighted geographic focal points of five Ethereum nodes over 107 days. The black line is the geodesic path between N. Virginia and Frankfurt; blue lines show key undersea cables, highlighting convergence along critical routes.