Bitcoin Forum

Do You have a Bitcoin Full Node running? (I mean roughly 24 hours/day service, including server with dynamic IP address)

I've setup a Full Node (IPv4 Tor-only (not really "hidden" service), to strengthen Tor) some days ago (Version 0.8.6, currently 39 GB disk usage), to strengthen the Bitcoin network. A newer version is unfortunatelay not not available for my OS, currently.
I use that node also as a honey pot with a small wallet balance, so I'll hopefully recognize, that if something is missing, my computer got probably compromised...
See also
https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node

Your are welcome to post which config (IPv4/IPv6/Tor...) Your are running, or why You are not running a Full Node.

I did, when I had a fairly capable VPS for an unrelated reason (0.9.x, IPv4). I no longer do, and my primary machine (laptop) is running low on disk space and USB ports for an external disk, although it also hosted a 0.10 node on both IPv4 and IPv6. Neither supported Tor. I hope to begin running full nodes again soon, at least at on my personal equipment.

No not 24/7. I boot up my bitcoin core wallet almost everyday to keep a full copy of the blockchain, but I don't run it all day; it puts too much stress on my little laptop and electricity is expensive where I live so I don't want to leave my desktop running.

Yes I run a full node at home 24/7. Just doing my bit.

I have a full node running on a server and I keep one running at home as well.

I did try to run a full node a half a year ago. I installed it on my old notebook. There was enough hard disk space and memory to run bitcoin core. It was fine if I had it on 8 hours a day, it would sync and update. Problem came when I forgot to switch it on everyday and blocks was lagging behind. Gave up when it became 10 weeks behind.  :D

If anyone wants to run a node, I think installing on a proper desktop and keeping it on 24/7 is the only feasible way.

never bothered with it, even i know it is useful for the network, there are some risk involved and also it consumes something, they need to incentivate it with a reward, even a small one would be better than nothing

What risks are you concerned about?

I run a full node on a Digital Ocean VPS supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.  It is up 24/7.  I imagine I will have to move to another provider some time in the future when disk space becomes a concern (DO uses SSD with small fixed sizes - I currently have a 60GB drive).

i don't have any node running but want to setup one if anyone can point me to simple and easy to follow tutorial for this.

What OS are you going to use?

Version 0.10 Tor hidden service.

you could be for example an attack target by someone malicious

antivirus can't put in quarantine some virus and afftecting in this way my full node, even if virus can't harm me, it can be avoided with linux but still...

problem related to bandwidth limitation, due to providers ecc...

Used to have ~0.9.n with RelayNode on FreeBSD, turned it off weeks ago along with the miners.

8 )

Ha!  Your "bit" ....

I don't currently own any 24/7 node, but I'm thinking about it. Anyways, I run my home node pretty much everyday, and 24/7 on weekends...

Probably best to have a dedicated machine for it.

Why is a machine running a full node more likely to be a target?

I guess someone could obtain the list of node IPs (trivial), there would be a slim chance those machines could contain bitcoins for stealing.
People who know what they are doing keep them offline however, so the risk is then gone.

So its the same risk whether I keep a node running 24/7 or 6/5. I dont see the point honestly. Besides that, the IP alone is not really helping. The actual node could be behind any number of network devices (e.g. a NAT router) youd have to attack first in order to get to the machine with the keys. Unless of course bitcoin core itself would be vulnerable to an attack. A SPV client is also easily detected by a malicous node and you know they have coins otherwise it makes next to no sense to run one. Thus IMHO a SPV client is actually a more logical target, considering that the obstacles to reach the coins are basically the same. Again, assuming that the client itself is not vulnerable to a direct attack.

I also thought we are talking about full nodes on dedicated machines (or VPS) here. I would not expect that a single one of those to have a wallet with any funds. I know I have disabled the wallet on my node.

Well as I said, the chances are slim.

I'm considering grabbing a Raspberry pi 2 and hook up one on my old HDD's in order to run a Bitcoin node here at home :)

I gave up with the Raspberry Pi node. It kept running out memory and swapping out.

It will be interesting when pruning is released.  

The master branch has MIN_BLOCKS_TO_KEEP set to 288.  That gives a maximum of 288MB of disk space to store the blocks (with full blocks).

The MIN_DISK_SPACE_FOR_BLOCK_FILES is set to 550MB, so it will normally store more info (and blocks won't be 1MB each).

It still needs to store the UTXO set too.  According to Statoshi (http://statoshi.info/#/dashboard/file/default.json?panelId=5&fullscreen&from=now-365d&to=now), it is 650MB, and rising linearly.

I never bothered waiting for the pi to sync.. Currently run a full node on an old laptop, that pulls from master each evening. I disabled wallet support when configuring, it lowers the required memory somewhat.

Also the Pi took hours to compile the bitcoin core from source.  More swapping out.

no i dont have any node running rt now..but i know a guy who set up these things neatky for quick bucks...

What exactly are the benefits for setting up a full node?

A full node processes and relays transactions, improving connectivity, stability, and safety of the network. There are also incentive programs that pay you to run one (due to this benefit). In addition, a full node is usable as an entry point to the network. If you want to run a Bitcoin service then having a full node allows you to see and process transactions.

It gives the world bitcoin.
No nodes, no bitcoin.

So is a Full node basically just running Bitcoin-QT?

Yes, there are other full node implementations though. Like btcd.

All day everyday and open port 8333, otherwise it's not a full node.

Running it 5 minutes a day and only allowing outbound connections its still called a full node, as long as it can sync in that time. A full node is any network node that is capable of enforcing all the network rules.

Maybe by definition, I run my bitcoin core about once a day to sync up and have a full copy of the blockchain, but I only run it for maybe 30 minutes. I wouldn't consider myself running a full node.

No, I do not have a bitcoin full node. I think the requirements to run one are quite high. Do you need a dedicated server for it?
 

Moderate VPSs can handle one, just not some huge one with thousands of connections.

Its certainly helping the network more if the node runs 24/7.


I run mine off a VPS with 2 GB ram and a single core. It handles 50 connetions fine. The only "propblem" will be the disk space soon. I might be able to switch from SSD to HDD though as I dont need the extra speed anway.

I just pre-ordered a bitseed (V2) and will run it from my home connection.

I think it makes sense to run a full node on a simple and dedicated hardware designed specifically for this purpose.

Thanks for the hint! Found the Bitnodes (https://getaddr.bitnodes.io) project (topic about it in this forum (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=952996.0)). Are there any others?

Edit: Bitnodes is only for static IP nodes, since registration is IP address bound. So it's nothing for me, since I have dynamic IP address change.

I dont know about any other incentive program, but here is the direct link -> https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/nodes/incentive/

There are only 170 nodes participating as of now, so if you have a full node running, get started. Its ~0.6% chance to win ~0.03 BTC. Those are pretty good odds for doing basically nothing.

then everyone is running it, because we need to sync everyday if we want to make a transactions

i wasn't aware that synching it for your normal activity was intended as a full node, that's good

The majority of users are probably on SPV clients or online wallet services. Also as coinableS pointed out, its just the "official" definition of a full node. Most users probably see this differently even if they use bitcoin core as their wallet.

I want to run full node,
but my HDD have too small capacity for blockchain

If you intend on running a 24/7 full node and helping the Bitcoin infrastructure, then you can always buy a dedicated hard drive for it. Otherwise, are you sure that you can't free up some space in your current hard drive? The blockchain is relatively small when you look at the current specifications that are being sold by computer manufacturers, e.g 1TB hard drives.  

It is possible to run a full node on the latest raspberry pi module, if you are interested in it. Although it would need a little tweaking as it's the bare minimum really. (of course you would still need to purchase something to store the blockchain on)

I was not able to get my node seen. I will give a screen shot.

I am optimum online running 10.2 bitcoin  windows 7


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/540/MZd3as.png

Looks like a Mac to me. Anyway, you need to make sure your router is forwarding the port 8333 from the outside to the machine running the node.

 screenshot was from a mac.

but the unreachable was the same as the one on the windows.

I will look at router settings. thanks. I fully reset router and it now works.

got an email notice and all. ping time is 200 ms I am interested to see if that improves.

It is now working


UP
Connected since 58 minutes ago
199 ms
Average latency
/Satoshi:0.10.2/
User agent
70002
Protocol version
NODE_NETWORK (1)
Services
358584 (100.00%)
Height
Lakewood, United States
Location
America/New_York
Timezone
Cablevision Systems Corp.
Network
AS6128
ASN

okay so I have the node running.
I am trying to set an address to allow me the incentives.



https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/api/#node-bitcoin-address


NODE BITCOIN ADDRESS
Set Bitcoin address for an activated node. Node must be activated separately, i.e. from https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/nodes/<ADDRESS>-<PORT>/, before it can be updated using this endpoint.

POST https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/api/v1/nodes/<ADDRESS>-<PORT>/

I was able to see my node by putting it into the above post.  I do not understand how to put in the btc address.




Parameters:

bitcoin_address - Bitcoin address for this node. An empty value is allowed to remove the existing Bitcoin address.

url (optional) - URL for a static public web page containing the same Bitcoin address. URL must match either http://<ADDRESS>:<PORT> or https://<ADDRESS>:<PORT>. <PORT> is optional and must be below 1024, i.e. privileged port. IPv6 URL is distinguished by enclosing the ADDRESS literal within square brackets, e.g. http://[<ADDRESS>]:<PORT>.


This endpoint must be requested from a client with the same IP address as the node that is being updated. It may take a few minutes before the Bitcoin address is verified separately. The verification process requires the node to have a static public web page at http://<ADDRESS> or http://[<ADDRESS>] for IPv6 URL (if url parameter is not specified) that contains the same Bitcoin address. Verified Bitcoin address will be kept for 30 days before it is verified again using the same verification process.

Examples:

$ curl -H "Accept: application/json; indent=4" -d "bitcoin_address=1DNgdwsFkX1dtCnYiAKSd4zxAuwgv2jhie" -d "url=http://148.251.238.178" https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/api/v1/nodes/148.251.238.178-8333/
{
    "success": true
}

$ curl -H "Accept: application/json; indent=4" -d "bitcoin_address=1DNgdwsFkX1dtCnYiAKSd4zxAuwgv2jhie" -d "url=http://[2a01:4f8:202:81b1::2]" https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/api/v1/nodes/2a01:4f8:202:81b1::2-8333/
{
    "success": true
}

Voting locked

You will need to run a web server that is showing at least the address you want to register. Afterwards you run the curl command given from the same IP. As you are behind your router this can be done from any machine in your local network (unless its using proxy, VPN, tor, etc.). This means both here. The web server can be a different or the same machine the command can be used from a different or the same machine.

More about the incentive here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=952996.0

There are also tips for Windows running a server IIRC.

Not sure why I can't vote anymore , but that's my vote "Yes, official version 0.10.x"
Most of the time I keep running it for 24/7 however sometimes I need to reboot the PC so can't do anything about that . but my PC is always ON so I have no problem keeping the Bitcoin Core client ON too .

I ordered full node hardware, its expensive but worth it  :) I maybe modify in future couple allso of raspnodes running 24/7. 35 dollars is not so bad newest version of rasberry + components :I
Hope i get job/money :I I put server in off mode at nights, raspnode is better opinion :) (0.02- 0.05 dollars at elektricity on 24 hours)

Yes I do! I love that's there's actually something that I can do to contribute to the community that is extremely easy and low cost. I really like your idea of using it as a honey pot to see if your system is compromised, I might have to borrow that idea!  :D

any much difference in getting rewarded bitcoins running full node vs lightweight node ?

 
What is the minimum setup to run a full node on Linux ?

What is the minimal hardware I could use ?

I cannot use my laptop any more, no more drive space, too slow when I work and I have to turn it off at night.

Some people use a RPi (or similar spec'ed hardware) with an external harddrive. So much for minimum specs.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=633347.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=981465.0
raspnode.com/diy.html
http://www.hardkernel.com/main/main.php
https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/hardware/

However the argument is, if you're actually helping the network with such a low spec computer, as it is slow with the tx forwarding (IIRC).

Yes that's the thing : there is no point of running a slow node.
It needs to be fast and effective.