Miners and nodes

[Little Lily]

Good day Bitcioners.
I was doing some proof reading about how bitcoins are created. I was able to grasp the idea that bitcoin uses something like a proof of work system. From the posts I read on the forum technical board, I saw something like miners and nodes. However I got a little confused at that point since I couldn't really tell the sole difference between them I have a couple of questions.
What is the difference between nodes and miners ? if all miners must run node to be able to mine bitcoins does that mean that all miners are people that run nodes?

I also saw some post talking about how it is possible to run nodes without mining bitcoin. My question is how is that going to be possible ? Also what are the benefits of nodes that don't mine bitcoins or confirm transaction to  the network ?
I don't know if these are a lot of questions but I would like to understand these concepts better.

[Cookdata]

Good day Bitcioners.
I was doing some proof reading about how bitcoins are created. I was able to grasp the idea that bitcoin uses something like a proof of work system. From the posts I read on the forum technical board, I saw something like miners and nodes. However I got a little confused at that point since I couldn't really tell the sole difference between them I have a couple of questions.
What is the difference between nodes and miners ? if all miners must run node to be able to mine bitcoins does that mean that all miners are people that run nodes?

Most miners are node but not all nodes are miners. Here is why.

When you initiate a transaction and broadcast it to the Bitcoin network, the first available node pick up your transaction, it verify the transaction and validate it and then they propagate it to the next available node. Your transaction will continue to be distributed to all available nodes and will be there on their mempool waiting for confirmation which is the work of miners to do.

Miners actually verify your transactions as they run their nodes too, they validate the transactions and propagate to all other nodes across the bitcoin network but it's their work to comfirm the transactions waiting on the mempool. After they comfirm your transaction and add it to the next block, they distribute the comfirmed transactions again to other nodes as been verified.

I also saw some post talking about how it is possible to run nodes without mining bitcoin. My question is how is that going to be possible ? Also what are the benefits of nodes that don't mine bitcoins or confirm transaction to  the network ?
I don't know if these are a lot of questions but I would like to understand these concepts better.

You can make money running a node from lightening network by helping to route transaction but most importantly, running your own node makes you independent of any other nodes, you don't have to trust other nodes for information from the Bitcoin network and it also increase your privacy.

[tranthidung]

I saw something like miners and nodes.

What is the difference between nodes and miners ? if all miners must run node to be able to mine bitcoins does that mean that all miners are people that run nodes?

I also saw some post talking about how it is possible to run nodes without mining bitcoin.

Bitcoin miners do their works to solve math puzzles, find Bitcoin blocks and confirm transactions. Bitcoin nodes don't find blocks or confirm transactions, they verify blocks and transactions and relay it to other nodes. Bitcoin node operators don't receive any bitcoin like Bitcoin miners.

Reachable Bitcoin nodes
https://bitnodes.io/

Node
https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/networking/node/

How does mining work?
https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/guide/mining/

Network and Mining
https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook/blob/develop/ch10_network.adoc
https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook/blob/develop/ch12_mining.adoc

[Felicity_Tide]

I was able to find answers to some of your questions, as I once asked something similar to this.

What is the difference between nodes and miners ?

A node is a software on a computer that enforces the Bitcoin consensus rules. To do that it has to be able to communicate with the rest of the nodes in the peer-to-peer network so that it can download and verify every single transaction from block 1 to the tip. A full node is what I explained above (a peer downloading and verifying blocks and has a mempool)

and a miner is someone who uses a full node to construct a candid block from its mempool to mine (compute hashes over and over until the desired hash is found).

If all miners must run node to be able to mine bitcoins does that mean that all miners are people that run nodes?

The last quoted paragraph says it all. Miner is someone who uses a full node.
And here is what NotATether pointed out...

Miners are not nodes.

All miners run a full node, because that is the only way to submit mined blocks to the blockchain, but the mining software themselves are not mining nodes that are connected to the network, because all that needs to be done is fetch the current difficulty level and generate a hash that is less than that.

Also what are the benefits of nodes that don't mine bitcoins or confirm transaction to  the network ?

As long as they validate transactions, and they are connected to other nodes, I think it helps to strengthen the network security and resistance to censorship. So the more number of users who runs a node, the more secure the network becomes.

I also saw some post talking about how it is possible to run nodes without mining bitcoin. My question is how is that going to be possible ?

Yes it's possible, though I haven't tried it. You should check for the videos online that provides the step by step approach. But I think it has certain requirements like good computing device and storage (around 1TB if you are running a full node).

[Little Lily]

This is quite interesting so there are both full nodes and those that aren't too?
I think I will have to do another reading about Nodes especially  the Types of nodes and how they operate on the network.

I think it helps to strengthen the network security and resistance to censorship. So the more number of users who runs a node, the more secure the network becomes.

So does this mean that more nodes on the network increase the level of decentralization.

Miners actually verify your transactions as they run their nodes too, they validate the transactions and propagate to all other nodes across the bitcoin network but it's their work to comfirm the transactions waiting on the mempool. After they comfirm your transaction and add it to the next block, they distribute the comfirmed transactions again to other nodes as been verified.

So the job a node does is just to confirm transaction and that of a miner is to both confirm a transaction and mine coins at the same time?

thanks for the links tranthidung and thanks to everyone for the explanation. Definitely this means that there is more that meets the eye in terms of technical things related to Bitcoin.  I will have to check out more posts on the technical board so I can be able to understand the whole thing well.

[EL MOHA]

This is quite interesting so there are both full nodes and those that aren't too?
I think I will have to do another reading about Nodes especially  the Types of nodes and how they operate on the network.

Yes aside the full nodes they are the prune nodes; which works almost exactly as full nodes, it downloads the entire blocks on the blockchain, also verifies transactions like the full nodes does but then it stores only part of the transaction and that’s why those with limited storage systems space prefer to run a prune node.

There is then, the SPV nodes which many called lightweight nodes and they do not verify everything rather they rely on other full nodes for information. The example of this is electrum wallets. You can just read through this thread by Pooya87

So does this mean that more nodes on the network increase the level of decentralization.

Yes the more the nodes, the more different nodes you have to verify transactions. But in terms of security the hash power is what plays the major role and it is not on the number of nodes

So the job a node does is just to confirm transaction and that of a miner is to both confirm a transaction and mine coins at the same time?

Don’t miss this up, the nodes that are not mining nodes doesn’t confirms transactions but rather they verify transactions. It is the mining nodes that actually does that by mining a block and adding your transactions into the block. You might need to follow the links up and read more

[Faisal2202]

Good day Bitcioners.
I was doing some proof reading about how bitcoins are created. I was able to grasp the idea that bitcoin uses something like a proof of work system. From the posts I read on the forum technical board, I saw something like miners and nodes. However I got a little confused at that point since I couldn't really tell the sole difference between them I have a couple of questions.
What is the difference between nodes and miners ?

Node is like a device used to do 2 tasks, keep the copy of the whole blockchain and secondly, they relay tx and blocks data without getting paid but as cookdata said they could also make money if the do it on LN. Well, you should call the person running a node, Validator and the person mining BTC a Miner.

if all miners must run node to be able to mine bitcoins does that mean that all miners are people that run nodes?

Yes, if a miner has not joined any mining pools and mining alone then he has to run his own node otherwise due to tough competition most of the miners prefer to join mining pools, so they join a pool, and the owner of the pool own single node while the computational power of every person is being used there who have joined the pool.

I also saw some post talking about how it is possible to run nodes without mining bitcoin. My question is how is that going to be possible ?

Running node means validating tx, means the two tasks I aforementioned. So running node is possible while you are no mining.

Also what are the benefits of nodes that don't mine bitcoins or confirm transaction to  the network ?

It provides anonymity, privacy, and trust, supports the network, and improves the network in many ways. It means contributing to the network for free. Plus you don't have to depend on other SPVs like trust wallet etc. you can broadcast your own tx directly from your wallet to the network this way the app like trust wallet or similar apps won't be able to track your IP address this way you can get maximum privacy and protection.

You can make money running a node from lightening network by helping to route transaction but most importantly, running your own node makes you independent of any other nodes, you don't have to trust other nodes for information from the Bitcoin network and it also increase your privacy.

I did not know that we could make money by running a node on LN. I did some research and found out that as the owner of the node, we can charge for routing am I right? Well, do you have some sources from where I can learn more about it?

[Coyster]

So the job a node does is just to confirm transaction and that of a miner is to both confirm a transaction and mine coins at the same time?

Nodes do not confirm transactions, what nodes do is to validate transactions. It is bitcoin miners who confirm transactions.

Also what are the benefits of nodes that don't mine bitcoins or confirm transaction to  the network ?

One benefit is that you do not have to rely on third parties, so running your own node gives you privacy. As a matter of fact, if you want to have privacy when you use bitcoin, you must run your own node.