Problem
The protobuf-src crate is inherently slow to run its build.rs as that compiles the C++ libprotobuf from source. As solana-storage-proto unconditionally depends on it, it is also slow to build.
solana-storage-proto in its build.rs already offers the ability to use system protoc by pointing to it in the PROTOC environment variable. However protobuf-src remains an unconditional depedency.
Proposed Solution
Make protobuf-src and optional dependency to solana-storage-proto.