Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: c0ldfusi0nz on January 17, 2014, 02:01:01 AM



Title: Health of the network with respect to the number of operating full nodes
Post by: c0ldfusi0nz on January 17, 2014, 02:01:01 AM
If this has been discussed elsewhere, feel free to link me - I didn't have any luck with my searches.

It's fairly straightforward to see the strength of the Bitcoin mining infrastructure growing by viewing the graphs of the relentlessly-increasing hashrate and thus mining difficulty. What I'd like to learn more about is the "health / strength" of the network with respect to the number of full nodes that are broadcasting transactions. I try to keep tabs on the number of full nodes via http://getaddr.bitnodes.io/chart/nodes/ (http://getaddr.bitnodes.io/chart/nodes/) and have been disappointed by the recent decline, but I don't know if it is cause for concern.

Is there a method by which we can determine the optimal number / minimum threshold of operating full nodes that will keep the relaying of transactions robust?