Data Consumption

[jawjahpeach]

I just downloaded Bitcoin Core.  It took 9 full days with cache set at 4000 mb.  I tried disabling Defender with no difference in speed realized.  After downloading/syncing was completed, I got a notice from my internet provider that I had exceeded my data limit, which incurs an overage charge.  With the continued syncing, how much data should I expect to be used on a monthly basis?  Also, is there a notice about data usage available prior to download?   

[achow101]

You will need to sync the entire blockchain, which is ~120 GB now. You will be downloading the entire thing when you sync. Normal node operation is another 3-400 GB of data as you may be providing the blockchain to another node and you will be downloading and uploading all blocks and transactions to many different nodes. If you are unable to support that much data transfer, read the instructions here: https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#reduce-traffic to lower your data usage.

[jawjahpeach]

As stated in my post, I have already synced the entire chain and exceeded my data limit as imposed by my internet provider.  I was not aware that the potential to do that existed.  My question was: With the continued syncing, how much data should I expect to be used on a monthly basis?  Please keep in mind that not all of us are fluent in IT and node speak.

[achow101]

how much data should I expect to be used on a monthly basis?

Normal node operation is another 3-400 GB of data

That's per month data. Roughly. If your node is up for a long time, then you will be consuming more data as more nodes connect to yours.

[jawjahpeach]

What do you mean:  That's per month data.  What is my node?  How do I know if it's up for a long time?  It sounds as if this was designed for folks with unlimited data.

[jawjahpeach]

How/where do I make the changes discussed in https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#reduce-traffic?

[achow101]

What do you mean:  That's per month data. 

Running a node with the default settings will consume 3-400 GB of data.

What is my node?  How do I know if it's up for a long time? 

Your node is the machine that is running the Bitcoin Core software. Your node is up if the Bitcoin Core software is currently running. It is down if the software is not running. It is up for a long time if the Bitcoin Core software has been running on that machine for a long time.

It sounds as if this was designed for folks with unlimited data.

The entire bitcoin network is designed without any consideration for data usage in mind. Many optimizations are currently being made to reduce data usage, but some things cannot be changed because they are part of the consensus rules.

[DannyHamilton]

. . . It sounds as if this was designed for folks with unlimited data.

If the amount of data that a full node wallet moves around is an issue for you, then you should consider running a SPV wallet such as Electrum.

The creator(s) of Bitcoin made it clear that they didn't intend for everyone to be running full node Bitcoin Core wallets and handling all that data.  Here are excerpts from some posts from Satoshi on the matter:

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Simplified Payment Verification is for lightweight client-only users who only do transactions and don't generate and don't participate in the node network.  They wouldn't need to download blocks, just the hash chain, which is currently about 2MB and very quick to verify (less than a second to verify the whole chain).  If the network becomes very large, like over 100,000 nodes, this is what we'll use to allow common users to do transactions without being full blown nodes.  At that stage, most users should start running client-only software and only the specialist server farms keep running full network nodes, kind of like how the usenet network has consolidated.
- snip -

- snip -
The design outlines a lightweight client that does not need the full block chain.  In the design PDF it's called Simplified Payment Verification.  The lightweight client can send and receive transactions, it just can't generate blocks.  It does not need to trust a node to verify payments, it can still verify them itself.
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It will reach an equilibrium where it's not worth it for more nodes to join in.  The rest will be lightweight clients, which could be millions.

At equilibrium size, many nodes will be server farms with one or two network nodes that feed the rest of the farm over a LAN.

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The design supports letting users just be users.  The more burden it is to run a node, the fewer nodes there will be.  Those few nodes will be big server farms.  The rest will be client nodes that only do transactions and don't generate.
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[jawjahpeach]

How much data is used during the Electrum download/set-up?

[HCP]

How much data is used during the Electrum download/set-up?

2/10th's of not very much... It's small enough that you can run Electrum on a mobile phone without stressing too much about data.

I believe the block headers take up something like ~37 megs on disk (mine is currently 36.4megs)... most of the "heavy lifting" is shifted over to the Electrum Server that you connect to... you send a request (ie. please scan for address "1bitcoinAddress"), the server hunts through the blockchain and returns the relevant data... That is how SPV clients like Electrum operate.

[dothebeats]

How much data is used during the Electrum download/set-up?

Mine currently eats up 37.2MB on the phone whereas in my pc, it sits at 41.7MB. If you are to download it on a laptop, it will not consume more than 50MB as it was considered a 'lightweight' wallet capable of receiving, sending and signing messages just like what core can do. The core wallet was never designed for people who worry about data usage. Just go for SPVs if you don't want to incur extra usage charges from your provider.