Performance Analysis and Metric Correlation in Blockchain Networks: Geth vs. Besu with and without Load Balancer

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5753/jisa.2026.6262

Keywords:

Blockchain Performance, Ethereum, Geth, Hyperledger Besu, Load Balancer, Benchmarking, Scalability

Abstract

Blockchain technology has emerged as a disruptive innovation, facilitating decentralized and secure transactions across various domains. However, performance and scalability are critical challenges, especially for enterprise applications. This study evaluates the performance of two Ethereum-based blockchain clients: Geth (Go Ethereum) and Hyperledger Besu, under different network conditions, including the use of a Load Balancer. We conducted an extensive benchmarking analysis using the Hyperledger Caliper tool to measure key performance metrics such as Requests per Second (Req/s), Transactions per Second (TPS), Latency, and Resource Utilization (CPU and Memory). Additionally, we performed statistical analyses, including Percentage Difference, Coefficient of Variation, and Correlation between Metrics, to provide deeper insights. Our results indicate that Geth consistently outperforms Besu in terms of TPS and latency under high workloads, while Besu demonstrates greater stability and scalability as the number of nodes increases. The impact of the Load Balancer varies across metrics, improving throughput in some cases but increasing latency in others. These findings offer valuable insights for organizations selecting blockchain platforms for enterprise solutions, highlighting scenarios in which each client performs best.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adulla, M., Baset, S., Bharathan, V., Graham, G., Hochstetler, G., Kocsis, I., Little, T., Middleton, D., Simpson, M., Sukhwani, H., and Wagner, M. (2018). Hyperledger blockchain performance metrics white paper. Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-03-26.

Alesh, S. (2023). What is nginx? Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-09-24.

Becher, B. (2024). What are blockchain nodes and how do they work? Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-03-27.

Carneiro, A. (2023). Introducing hyperledger besu: Your guide. Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-03-25.

Chen, X., Nguyen, K., and Sekiya, H. (2022). On the latency performance in private blockchain networks. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 9(19):18047-18058. DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2022.3165666.

Cuemath (2025). Percentage Difference Formula - What is Percentage Difference Formula? Examples. Available at:[link].

Elaurichenickson (2024). How to use nginx as a load balancer for your application. Available at: [link]. Accessed: 2025-09-24.

Energy Web Foundation (2023). Energy web chain: Public blockchain for the energy sector. Available at: [link]. Accessed: 2025-11-30.

Fan, C., Lin, C., Khazaei, H., and Musilek, P. (2022). Performance analysis of hyperledger besu in private blockchain. In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures (DAPPS), pages 64-73. IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/DAPPS55202.2022.00016.

Frost, J. (2020). Coefficient of variation in statistics. Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-08-14.

Hafza, Y. (2025). What is geth? Available at: [link]. Accessed: 2025-03-25.

Harish, V. and Sridevi, R. (2024). Enhancing split-join blockchain performance through load balancing. International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 11. DOI: 10.14445/23488379/IJEEE-V11I7P110.

Holcombe, J. (2018). What is nginx? a basic look at what it is and how it works. Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-09-24.

Hyperledger (2025). Introduction - Hyperledger Caliper. Available at:[link].

Islam, M. M., Merlec, M. M., and In, H. P. (2022). A comparative analysis of proof-of-authority consensus algorithms: Aura vs clique. In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (SCC), pages 327-332. IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/SCC55611.2022.00054.

Kanai, S. (2022). What is test harness in software testing? Available at:[link]. Accessed: 2025-03-27.

Li, C., Huang, H., Zhao, Y., Peng, X., Yang, R., Zheng, Z., and Guo, S. (2022). Achieving scalability and load balance across blockchain shards for state sharding. In 2022 41st International Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems (SRDS), pages 284-294. IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/SRDS55811.2022.00034.

Li, M., Wang, W., and Zhang, J. (2023). Lb-chain: Load-balanced and low-latency blockchain sharding via account migration. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 34(10):2797-2810. DOI: 10.1109/TPDS.2023.3238343.

Microsoft (2020). Azure blockchain: Ethereum proof-of-authority consortium. Available at: [link]. Accessed: 2025-11-30.

Raab, F. (2019). System under test. In Sakr, S. and Zomaya, A. Y., editors, Encyclopedia of Big Data Technologies, pages 1663-1665. Springer International Publishing, Cham. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-77525-8_124.

Samuel, C., Glock, S., Verdier, F., and Guitton-Ouhamou, P. (2021). Choice of ethereum clients for private blockchain: Assessment from proof of authority perspective. ResearchGate. DOI: 10.1109/icbc51069.2021.9461085.

Stewart (2025). Pearson's correlation coefficient: Definition, formula, and facts. Available at: [link]. Accessed: 2025-08-14.

Tareen, F. N., Alvi, A. N., Malik, A. A., Javed, M. A., Khan, M. B., Saudagar, A. K. J., Alkhathami, M., and Abul Hasanat, M. H. (2023). Efficient load balancing for blockchain-based healthcare system in smart cities. Applied Sciences, 13(4):2411. DOI: 10.3390/app13042411.

Yli-Huumo, J., Ko, D., Choi, S., Park, S., and Smolander, K. (2016). Where is current research on blockchain technology?—a systematic review. PLOS ONE, 11(10):e0163477. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163477.

Downloads

Published

2026-03-30

How to Cite

Gaspar, I. de A., & Rocha, A. A. de A. (2026). Performance Analysis and Metric Correlation in Blockchain Networks: Geth vs. Besu with and without Load Balancer. Journal of Internet Services and Applications, 17(1), 89–109. https://doi.org/10.5753/jisa.2026.6262

Issue

Section

Research article