diff --git a/node/app/data_worker_node.go b/node/app/data_worker_node.go
index 1bf89e4..609ae43 100644
--- a/node/app/data_worker_node.go
+++ b/node/app/data_worker_node.go
@@ -81,10 +81,6 @@ func (n *DataWorkerNode) Start(
 	)
 
 	go func() {
-		n.logger.Info(
-			"starting IPC server",
-			zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
-		)
 		err := n.ipcServer.Start()
 		if err != nil {
 			n.logger.Error(
@@ -308,6 +304,7 @@ func WaitForWorkerPortsAvailable(
 // monitorPortHealth checks if both the stream port and P2P listen port are listening after startup
 // The stream port is calculated as: base_stream_port + core_index - 1
 // The P2P listen port is calculated as: base_p2p_port + core_index - 1
+// The stream port check waits for the IPC server to be ready before checking
 func (n *DataWorkerNode) monitorPortHealth() {
 	n.logger.Info(
 		"checking port health",
@@ -330,12 +327,19 @@ func (n *DataWorkerNode) monitorPortHealth() {
 		)
 		streamResult <- false // Mark as failed since we couldn't check
 	} else {
-		// Check stream port in parallel
+		// Wait for IPC server to be ready before checking stream port
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
+			// Wait for IPC server to start listening
 			n.logger.Debug(
-				"attempting to bind to the stream port to check if it's listening",
+				"waiting for IPC server to be ready before checking stream port",
+				zap.String("port", streamPort),
+				zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
+			)
+			<-n.ipcServer.Ready()
+			n.logger.Debug(
+				"IPC server is ready, checking stream port",
 				zap.String("port", streamPort),
 				zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
 			)
@@ -348,8 +352,8 @@ func (n *DataWorkerNode) monitorPortHealth() {
 			)
 
 			if !isStreamListening {
-				n.logger.Error(
-					"stream port is not listening",
+				n.logger.Warn(
+					"stream port is not yet listening, may not be ready yet",
 					zap.String("port", streamPort),
 					zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
 				)
@@ -395,7 +399,7 @@ func (n *DataWorkerNode) monitorPortHealth() {
 
 			if !isP2PListening {
 				n.logger.Error(
-					"P2P listen port is not listening",
+					"P2P listen port is not yet listening, may not be ready yet",
 					zap.String("port", p2pPortStr),
 					zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
 				)
@@ -421,12 +425,12 @@ func (n *DataWorkerNode) monitorPortHealth() {
 	// Ports are listening successfully, reset attempt counter
 	if streamOk && p2pOk {
 		n.logger.Info(
-			"all ports are listening successfully, resetting restart attempts",
+			"all ports are listening successfully",
 			zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
 		)
 	}
 	n.logger.Info(
-		"port health check completed successfully",
+		"port health check completed",
 		zap.Uint("core_id", n.coreId),
 	)
 }
diff --git a/node/datarpc/data_worker_ipc_server.go b/node/datarpc/data_worker_ipc_server.go
index edf365d..bc0c020 100644
--- a/node/datarpc/data_worker_ipc_server.go
+++ b/node/datarpc/data_worker_ipc_server.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package datarpc
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	pcrypto "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/crypto"
@@ -48,6 +49,8 @@ type DataWorkerIPCServer struct {
 	quit                      chan struct{}
 	peerInfoCtx               lifecycle.SignalerContext
 	peerInfoCancel            context.CancelFunc
+	ready                     chan struct{}
+	readyOnce                 sync.Once
 }
 
 func NewDataWorkerIPCServer(
@@ -102,10 +105,12 @@ func NewDataWorkerIPCServer(
 		frameProver:               frameProver,
 		peerInfoManager:           peerInfoManager,
 		quit:                      make(chan struct{}),
+		ready:                     make(chan struct{}),
 	}, nil
 }
 
 func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) Start() error {
+	r.logger.Info("starting DataWorkerIPCServer", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 	peerInfoCtx, peerInfoCancel, _ := lifecycle.WithSignallerAndCancel(
 		context.Background(),
 	)
@@ -118,15 +123,19 @@ func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) Start() error {
 	)
 	select {
 	case <-peerInfoReady:
+		r.logger.Info("peer info manager started successfully", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
-		r.logger.Warn("peer info manager did not start before timeout")
+		r.logger.Warn("peer info manager did not start before timeout", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 	}
 	r.peerInfoCtx = peerInfoCtx
 	r.peerInfoCancel = peerInfoCancel
 
+	r.logger.Info("respawning server", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 	r.RespawnServer(nil)
+	r.logger.Info("data worker ipc server started", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 
 	<-r.quit
+	r.logger.Info("data worker ipc server quit signal received, stopping", zap.Uint32("core_id", r.coreId))
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -218,6 +227,7 @@ func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) RespawnServer(filter []byte) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "respawn server")
 	}
 
+	r.logger.Info("attempting to listen on address", zap.String("address", r.listenAddrGRPC))
 	lis, err := mn.Listen(mg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "respawn server")
@@ -228,6 +238,10 @@ func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) RespawnServer(filter []byte) error {
 		zap.String("address", r.listenAddrGRPC),
 		zap.String("resolved", lis.Addr().String()),
 	)
+	// Signal that the server is ready (listening)
+	r.readyOnce.Do(func() {
+		close(r.ready)
+	})
 	if len(filter) != 0 {
 		globalTimeReel, err := r.appConsensusEngineFactory.CreateGlobalTimeReel()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -257,6 +271,11 @@ func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) RespawnServer(filter []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Ready returns a channel that will be closed when the server has started listening
+func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) Ready() <-chan struct{} {
+	return r.ready
+}
+
 // CreateJoinProof implements protobufs.DataIPCServiceServer.
 func (r *DataWorkerIPCServer) CreateJoinProof(
 	ctx context.Context,