Do run a Bitcoin Core FULL NODE Now!

[QlooQl]

I think you misunderstand what running a node does. It helps to verify transactions, which was important at the start of the blockchain being mined. It's also important around forks (for like an hour). If you read the original bitcoin whitepaper you will understand better how it works.

The way to achieve the goal you are after is by mining...and mining enough that you actually have control. Lots of little miners can keep control, but not very well. The big miners will always be able to control better.

[Spendulus]

I think you misunderstand what running a node does. It helps to verify transactions, which was important at the start of the blockchain being mined. It's also important around forks (for like an hour). If you read the original bitcoin whitepaper you will understand better how it works.

The way to achieve the goal you are after is by mining...and mining enough that you actually have control. Lots of little miners can keep control, but not very well. The big miners will always be able to control better.

That's true. Or the guilds. Mining I have done, nobody ever asked me to vote on anything....

On the music derail (lol) here is one that....incredibly, this is from 2012. (with lyrics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdrSP0V-KLg

And the great lament about the crash of Mt. Got and 2/3 of a Billion in peoples' funds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2ku1A5Ox8U

[Bestcoin-fan]

I think you misunderstand what running a node does. It helps to verify transactions, which was important at the start of the blockchain being mined. It's also important around forks (for like an hour). If you read the original bitcoin whitepaper you will understand better how it works.

The way to achieve the goal you are after is by mining...and mining enough that you actually have control. Lots of little miners can keep control, but not very well. The big miners will always be able to control better.

Of course mining is the most important and most in-demand thing now.

All those who can afford independent Bitcoin mining have already been doing it, I think.

Yet full nodes are very important as well, and not only at the very forks moments.
Besides, it is a way to express support for the Bitcoin Core developers team, and vote what the True Bitcoin is as well.

We shouldn't just sit, wait, and do nothing. We must do something, must support the Bitcoin by all available means

[Spendulus]

...We must do something, must support the Bitcoin by all available means

Wouldn't that be done by after the fork, transacting on the traditional Bitcoin chain? Actual transactions are what miners process. With reasonable delays and consideration for issues and dangers of replay exploits of course.

[Bestcoin-fan]

...We must do something, must support the Bitcoin by all available means

Wouldn't that be done by after the fork, transacting on the traditional Bitcoin chain? Actual transactions are what miners process. With reasonable delays and consideration for issues and dangers of replay exploits of course.

Everyone must do what he (she) can do to support the Bitcoin.
Best of all If one can mine new blocks for transactions, while signaling no2x at the same time.
But if one cannot, then let he (she) start running Bitcoin Core at least, it's much better than be just sitting and doing nothing (though doing nothing may sometimes be the best "doing" actually  but this is not the case.

[TechPriest]

That has nothing to do with whether "all nodes were supposed to be full nodes."

Satoshi talked about the obvious need for lightweight wallets that didn't require the entire Merkle tree database.

All nodes were supposed to be miners, without full nodes and miner nodes.
But in other argument you're right. Satoshi predicted "light" wallets.

[Bestcoin-fan]

I must take my words back! It has turned out that those 2x guys are not that bad! The terrible 2x chain split seems to be canceled at last!!
Everyone has the right to be mistaken, the main thing is to have the courage, honesty and wisdom to admit that they were not quite right.

[Bestcoin-fan]

How large is the blockchain, what is your bandwidth and how long until you synced your node?

About 160 Gb, full node may be run with any bandwidth actually (mine is 2.5Mb download/1.5 Mb upload), I had to wait about 2 weaks, but Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1 will sync faster. You may download the whole blockchain if you have problems with syncing (see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2321650.0 ).
All necessary info may be found in the official, pretty clear docs at https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node

[Bell-Crypton]

The starting point of a phrase search is random, it gets a private key from the openssl rand ecdsa library and starts searching from there, simply incrementing the key. After searching many addresses for a phrase match, it will again get another random private key. The keys searched and returned with a found vanity phrase in the corresponding Bitcoin address can be from anywhere in the range of valid keys, but certainly it cannot "search the entire keyspace", as that would take somewhere just north of the age of the universe.

[cupronickel]

How large is the blockchain, what is your bandwidth and how long until you synced your node?

About 160 Gb, full node may be run with any bandwidth actually (mine is 2.5Mb download/1.5 Mb upload), I had to wait about 2 weaks, but Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1 will sync faster. You may download the whole blockchain if you have problems with syncing (see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2321650.0 ).
All necessary info may be found in the official, pretty clear docs at https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node

I installed 0.15 last week and it took just a weekend to catch up. Huge huge improvement vs last time I did this when it took
~2 weeks, as you say.

[Bestcoin-fan]

How large is the blockchain, what is your bandwidth and how long until you synced your node?

About 160 Gb, full node may be run with any bandwidth actually (mine is 2.5Mb download/1.5 Mb upload), I had to wait about 2 weaks, but Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1 will sync faster. You may download the whole blockchain if you have problems with syncing (see https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2321650.0 ).
All necessary info may be found in the official, pretty clear docs at https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node

I installed 0.15 last week and it took just a weekend to catch up. Huge huge improvement vs last time I did this when it took
~2 weeks, as you say.

It's a very good news!  I'm very happy the great Core team has achieved such a progress in the wallet's initial syncing!

[Bestcoin-fan]

Have tried this and used to run the full node on my workstation.
But upon switching to a lighter laptop(which I did for my needs) I cannot do that any longer.
Also, it will take ages to download the blockchain.
And once you have started downloading the blockchain, Its almost impossible to use your computer for any of the other task you want.
An alternate approach is  that You may keep  a pruned blockchain.

I cannot agree with you:

1) The latest Bitcoin Core wallet app vers. 0.16.1 (I run it as my own full node) downloads the blockchain pretty fast (much faster than earlier versions)

2) I used to keep a Bitcoin Core full node wallet on an exclusively weak PC (500Mb RAM , single-core very slow old Celeron CPU) while doing all sorts of ordinary stuff , without any performance downgrade!
 I managed to achieve that by setting very low permanent process priority for the Bitcoin Core process. For that I used one of the software from this review: https://www.raymond.cc/blog/permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager-with-prio/

[Jet Cash]

Have tried this and used to run the full node on my workstation.
But upon switching to a lighter laptop(which I did for my needs) I cannot do that any longer.
Also, it will take ages to download the blockchain.
And once you have started downloading the blockchain, Its almost impossible to use your computer for any of the other task you want.
An alternate approach is  that You may keep  a pruned blockchain.

What a load of tosh.

You can just copy the blockchain, no need to download it again.
You can't run a pruned blockchain unless you had a blockchain to prune.
One of my nodes is running on a netbook with a celeron processor. Is your laptop 'lighter' than that?

Was it worth bumping an old thread to post that rubbish?
I've put you on ignore, so no merits from me ever.

[The best one]

Yes I agree I think it is unning a Bitcoin full node isn’t just for mining pools and companies. Today, we’re going to outline 6 reasons why the average user should also consider running their own Bitcoin full node. There is a list of 6 reasons to run a Bitcoin Full Node.
1)   Helps the Network
Running your own full node is the only way to have full control and to ensure that all the rules of Bitcoin are being followed. Nodes do this by rejecting blocks and transactions that don’t follow the consensus rules and by rejecting connections from peers that send them (or too many of them).
2)   Keeps you safe
Running any kind of Bitcoin wallet that does not require you to run a full node means that you have to place a certain degree of trust in the service provider, something that shouldn’t be necessary with Bitcoin.
3)   Allows you to choose
In the possible event of a hard fork where both blockchains remain active with economic activity on each side like the one in Ethereum/Ethereum Classic, running a full node is the only way you can validate the rules of the new or old blockchain, according to your preference. If you don’t run a full node, your opinion will not be considered and you will simply follow the blockchain that is given to you.
4)   Gives you a higher degree of privacy
Using a centralized, lightweight or even SPV wallet will never be as private as running a full node. Since you rely on third-party servers to broadcast your transactions for you, those servers will be aware of which addresses belong to you.
5)   It’s not that hard
To less than tech-savvy users, running a full node may seem like a challenge. However, running a Bitcoin core full node is nothing more than simply downloading the latest Bitcoin core client version and running it.
6)   It’s not that expensive
Running a node will require you to keep your computer on at all times – or at least for the majority of the day. While you can always turn your node on and off at will with this option, it is not a very practical one. Thank you.

[rpstatic]

Yes I agree I think it is unning a Bitcoin full node isn’t just for mining pools and companies. Today, we’re going to outline 6 reasons why the average user should also consider running their own Bitcoin full node. There is a list of 6 reasons to run a Bitcoin Full Node.
1)   Helps the Network
Running your own full node is the only way to have full control and to ensure that all the rules of Bitcoin are being followed. Nodes do this by rejecting blocks and transactions that don’t follow the consensus rules and by rejecting connections from peers that send them (or too many of them).
2)   Keeps you safe
Running any kind of Bitcoin wallet that does not require you to run a full node means that you have to place a certain degree of trust in the service provider, something that shouldn’t be necessary with Bitcoin.
3)   Allows you to choose
In the possible event of a hard fork where both blockchains remain active with economic activity on each side like the one in Ethereum/Ethereum Classic, running a full node is the only way you can validate the rules of the new or old blockchain, according to your preference. If you don’t run a full node, your opinion will not be considered and you will simply follow the blockchain that is given to you.
4)   Gives you a higher degree of privacy
Using a centralized, lightweight or even SPV wallet will never be as private as running a full node. Since you rely on third-party servers to broadcast your transactions for you, those servers will be aware of which addresses belong to you.
5)   It’s not that hard
To less than tech-savvy users, running a full node may seem like a challenge. However, running a Bitcoin core full node is nothing more than simply downloading the latest Bitcoin core client version and running it.
6)   It’s not that expensive
Running a node will require you to keep your computer on at all times – or at least for the majority of the day. While you can always turn your node on and off at will with this option, it is not a very practical one. Thank you.

This are good reasons to run a full node, but are there any security concerns when running a full node? I can think of one issue, your IP would be visible to the network and therefore you are maybe a target of an attack. Is this a reasonable concern or am I too careful? Are there other concerns?

[anullcoin]

This are good reasons to run a full node, but are there any security concerns when running a full node? I can think of one issue, your IP would be visible to the network and therefore you are maybe a target of an attack. Is this a reasonable concern or am I too careful? Are there other concerns?

start your daemon using:
onlynet=onion
bind=127.0.0.1
listenonion=0

[rpstatic]

This are good reasons to run a full node, but are there any security concerns when running a full node? I can think of one issue, your IP would be visible to the network and therefore you are maybe a target of an attack. Is this a reasonable concern or am I too careful? Are there other concerns?

start your daemon using:
onlynet=onion
bind=127.0.0.1
listenonion=0

Thank you! I didn't know that the bitcoin core wallet supports to run over tor without much configuration.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Setting_up_a_Tor_hidden_service

Any other concers? Otherwise I will setup a full node on my raspberry 

[anullcoin]

This are good reasons to run a full node, but are there any security concerns when running a full node? I can think of one issue, your IP would be visible to the network and therefore you are maybe a target of an attack. Is this a reasonable concern or am I too careful? Are there other concerns?

start your daemon using:
onlynet=onion
bind=127.0.0.1
listenonion=0

Thank you! I didn't know that the bitcoin core wallet supports to run over tor without much configuration.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Setting_up_a_Tor_hidden_service

Any other concers? Otherwise I will setup a full node on my raspberry  

pruned nodes sucks, you should buy a bananapi with sata port.
It is bettere to use a pc for initial sync, and move your copy of the blockchain on the bananapi later.
Initial synchronization on a raspberrypi will take some years.

[rpstatic]

pruned nodes sucks, you should buy a bananapi with sata port.

I don't understand your point. The performance of the raspberry and banana are similar and I don't think the disk speed will make much difference (except for the initial sync).

It is bettere to use a pc for initial sync, and move your copy of the blockchain on the bananapi later.
Initial synchronization on a raspberrypi will take some years.

Good suggestion, thank you.

[anullcoin]

pruned nodes sucks, you should buy a bananapi with sata port.

I don't understand your point. The performance of the raspberry and banana are similar and I don't think the disk speed will make much difference (except for the initial sync).

It was not about performances, I don't like pruned nodes, it is only a personal opinion.
better pruned nodes than no nodes at all.