Editing Relay (section)

== Operational Considerations ==
Running a relay requires significant resources compared to other AT Protocol services. As of mid-2024, maintaining a real-time copy of all user repositories for a network of 6 million users cost approximately $153 per month in storage and bandwidth alone, not including computational resources for processing and serving the data.

Due to these resource requirements, there are likely to be fewer relays than self-hosted PDSes. However, the protocol is designed to support multiple relays operating independently, such that no single entity has control over data distribution in the network.

Relays can be operated at different scales. Full-network relays track all repositories across the entire network, providing complete coverage. Partial-network relays might focus on specific communities, applications, or regions, reducing resource requirements. Specialized relays could serve particular use cases, such as academic research, brand monitoring, or archive preservation.