Bitcoin Forum

Hi,

I am tired of using blockchain.info payment api and other apis.

They are all unreliable and jump with their naked buggy ass in your face from behind when you are least expecting it.

So I would like to run a full node with my own wallet. My target is to have something as simple to use as blockchain.info or blocktrail.com or blockcypher.com or other payment api's for different applications.

I have plans for different applications on different servers which all will make calls to that one single node, to receive and send payments and query for blockchain data. And of course it all has to be secure.


The problem is, I have very limited knowledge and experience in running a linux server. So the question is:

Are there any good tutorials out there, which will help me set up a full node and wallet on a vps, step by step till the point where I can just send post request to that full node server and will get back all that blockchain data and will be able to generate private keys and addresses and send transactions. So that the full node behaves for me like blockchain.info or blocktrail.com or www.blockcypher.com or whatever API, but with a little more control and reliability.

Or do you think only very linux-experienced people should set up own full nodes with wallets?

The basics of setting up a node can be found here (https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#ubuntu-1410).

With this you can setup a basic node, and do whatever you want with it :)

well yes, you are right, I have looked trough this tutorial already. But it does not tell you how to make a call to that server from another page/application outside of that server to interact with that node. Also it does not tell you how to make such calls secure, to prevent someone steal your private keys.

also it could be outdated? I think 50gb of free space is not enough anymore?

Create a bitcoin.conf file.
Add the following:

Change username and password to something else. You can configure the rest by looking through the config example here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin#Bitcoin.conf_Configuration_File.

Well, you asked for a node creation tutorial :D As for whatever implementation you're aiming at, that's up to you, there are no fixed tutorials... The tutorial has instructions on how to communicate with the node. Now your tool must be built around that :)

What are the benefits running a full node, do these people are anything?
I know that it cost a bit to run and to maintain but how to cover these?

Besides supporting the network and not having to rely on anyone else giving the right data, there are really no other benefits. There is no compensation and no reward for running a full node.

Thanks for the information, i read on the article provided by unamis76 that people volunteer and was wondering if there is any reward for these people, but ok, it helps a lot for the community, thanks.

Ok thanks for the info, I will try those tutorials.

Are there any cheap hosting plans out there you could suggest for running a node? Maybe some that even accept bitcoins?


Is it difficult to get your node to detect all transactions as soon as they appear on the network?
E.g. I noticed that sometimes 0 confirmation transactions are missing on blockchain.info but you can find them on other explorers. So I guess it is relevant how you configure it?

You can look for cheap hosting on Low End Box (http://lowendbox.com/). I've had nodes on 3 or 4 hosts using promotions from that website and pretty much all of them gave me a good or at least reasonable service. You can simply write down Bitcoin on the searchbox and you might get interesting hits :)

It's a bit difficult to detect transactions ASAP. You need to have your node very well connected.

As for the rest, I don't know how to give you a right answer :)

Thank you for your time!

sorry wrong word in the previous post, not mentioned ---> noticed.

What does it mean well connected? Does it mean the server itself has a fast connection, or that I need to configure the node to have a good connection to other nodes?


Is a SATA harddrive enough for the node, or should it be a SSD? What about the free space, some tuts say one should reserve 100 GB, is that enough for the near future?

Well connected means having a fast and persistent connection that can connect to as many nodes as possible at the same time. I don't think there's a specific configuration in order to achieve this (I've read quite a few things about nodes and setting them up and haven't found anything that could improve connection count)

A mechanical hard drive is enough. You'd just have better performance on an SSD. Yes, 100GB is enough for near future. The blockchain is currently about 60GB

You can always just buy a Bitseed (https://bitseed.org/product/pre-order-bitseed-v2/) and plug it into your router.

Why not just make a node yourself at home with a Raspberry Pi or old hardware? :D And this wouldn't ultimately solve his problem fully, he'd still have to develop and implement his own API/payment gateway/whatever he sees fit for his uses.

@unamis76  thank you, setting up an node at home is not an option for me, too slow connection and other disadvantages.



Well I had no time to look trough this yet, but I hope that I wont need a very huge api for my intention, which is receive and send payments and to track incoming coins!?

But that is exactly what I wanted to know, how much work is it actually to get something like the blockchain.info or blocktrail.com payment api, but with my own node?

The more connections you have, the more resources you need. By default, Bitcoin Core only allows 8 outgoing connections. To get an incoming connection, you need to configure your firewall and router settings to allow TCP 8333. You can use in Bitcoin.conf to increase the maximum Inbound+Outbound connection to whichever you want. The ability to see TXes is dependant on your rules for relay fee and free transactions. Different nodes have different rules.

I have a PC which I used about 10 hours a day. Is it worth setting up a full node on this PC? It is running for 10 hours a day only.

Yes, esp. if you can allow connections from the outside. Every node is helping the network, even if its only running a short time.

So what resources would I need to connect to all 5400+ nodes? :)

Datacenter-style capability with amazing network and even then you won't connect to everyone...

Slightly off topic but is it not about time bitcoin became totally decentralized and have no human interference,where software and nodes decide block sizes.When Satoshi left in 2010 he knew then that bitcoin could survive totally decentralized without him leaving the first test being the block size.If bitcoin survives the test next year it will become much stronger but also could become a failed disaster.So let software and nodes dictate things not humans 

We only need to connect to 8 other nodes. The most I connected before is about 16. I only run the wallet when I need to send money.