> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://canary-1.gitbook.io/canary/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://canary-1.gitbook.io/canary/how-it-works/performance-and-footprint.md).

# Performance and footprint

The numbers behind the claim that verification depth does not cost speed.

Security that refuses is only adoptable if it is also fast. The Canary client was written for high-throughput verification on commodity hardware, and the numbers are the point.

| Measure                                     | Figure                                                          |
| ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Footprint                                   | A single node runs comfortably on 1 vCPU and 2GB of RAM         |
| Throughput                                  | 700+ requests per second per node, sustained, on that footprint |
| Latency                                     | Sub-100ms verification                                          |
| Against the shared reference implementation | Roughly 15x the throughput on the same workload                 |
| Scaling                                     | Close to linear with added nodes, with near-instant startup     |

## Why it matters

**Depth is not a latency tax.** Routine transfers stay on the fast path, and the headroom pays for deeper checks exactly where value justifies them. A protocol does not have to choose between a verifier that is careful and one that is quick.

**Spikes are absorbed, not queued.** Because startup is near-instant and throughput scales close to linearly, traffic spikes are absorbed by spinning up instances rather than by queueing messages.

**A small enclave is a small audit surface.** The same compactness that makes the client fast lets it fit entirely inside a TEE enclave without unnecessary dependencies, which keeps the trusted computing base tight.