technical mechanics of bitcoin?

[PointHope]

I guess I'm not understanding exactly how it works.

So where are the transactions stored? Nodes?

I was studying the mining rigs and noticed there aren't any hard drives on them.
So the mining is just computing the mathematical algorithms, and fills up nodes.
So where are the nodes stored?

[mocacinno]

I guess I'm not understanding exactly how it works.

So where are the transactions stored? Nodes?

I was studying the mining rigs and noticed there aren't any hard drives on them.
So the mining is just computing the mathematical algorithms, and fills up nodes.
So where are the nodes stored?

Correct,

Transactions are generated by anybody, then broadcasted. The nodes store unconfirmed transactions in their mempool.
Once a transaction is stored in a block, it gets removed from the mempool (it's now a part of the blockchain, so there is no need to keep it in memory).

The mining rigs = ASIC's => you are allmost correct on this one to, modern asic's have a "driver" (basically a small rpi), this driver has a small SD card to hold the driver's os, drivers for the ASIC, mining software and a small user GUI... This disk does not store any transactions on it tough, that's why your statement is still pretty good.
You're supposed to either run your ASIC on a pool, or set up your own mining node and connect your ASIC to your own node.

As for your last question: decentralised Everybody can run a node (and many people actually do this). If you want to solo mine, or if you operate a pool, you'll have to run a node for sure...

[PointHope]

I guess I'm not understanding exactly how it works.

So where are the transactions stored? Nodes?

I was studying the mining rigs and noticed there aren't any hard drives on them.
So the mining is just computing the mathematical algorithms, and fills up nodes.
So where are the nodes stored?

Correct,

Transactions are generated by anybody, then broadcasted. The nodes store unconfirmed transactions in their mempool.
Once a transaction is stored in a block, it gets removed from the mempool (it's now a part of the blockchain, so there is no need to keep it in memory).

The mining rigs = ASIC's => you are allmost correct on this one to, modern asic's have a "driver" (basically a small rpi), this driver has a small SD card to hold the driver's os, drivers for the ASIC, mining software and a small user GUI... This disk does not store any transactions on it tough, that's why your statement is still pretty good.
You're supposed to either run your ASIC on a pool, or set up your own mining node and connect your ASIC to your own node.

As for your last question: decentralised Everybody can run a node (and many people actually do this). If you want to solo mine, or if you operate a pool, you'll have to run a node for sure...

I see, and apparently there is sufficient redundancy should any individual node fail or fall off the system.

[mocacinno]

I guess I'm not understanding exactly how it works.

So where are the transactions stored? Nodes?

I was studying the mining rigs and noticed there aren't any hard drives on them.
So the mining is just computing the mathematical algorithms, and fills up nodes.
So where are the nodes stored?

Correct,

Transactions are generated by anybody, then broadcasted. The nodes store unconfirmed transactions in their mempool.
Once a transaction is stored in a block, it gets removed from the mempool (it's now a part of the blockchain, so there is no need to keep it in memory).

The mining rigs = ASIC's => you are allmost correct on this one to, modern asic's have a "driver" (basically a small rpi), this driver has a small SD card to hold the driver's os, drivers for the ASIC, mining software and a small user GUI... This disk does not store any transactions on it tough, that's why your statement is still pretty good.
You're supposed to either run your ASIC on a pool, or set up your own mining node and connect your ASIC to your own node.

As for your last question: decentralised Everybody can run a node (and many people actually do this). If you want to solo mine, or if you operate a pool, you'll have to run a node for sure...

I see, and apparently there is sufficient redundancy should any individual node fail or fall off the system.

I'll answer that question by posting a link
https://bitnodes.earn.com/

Looks like there are almost 11.000 nodes at the moment... So indeed, if one goes down, it would not really matter.

[PointHope]

I'll answer that question by posting a link
https://bitnodes.earn.com/

Looks like there are almost 11.000 nodes at the moment... So indeed, if one goes down, it would not really matter.

Thanks for that link, indeed answers many questions. Pretty fascinating to see the network distribution.

[trickyriky]

Coins flows are composed of some inputs and some outputs. When you sends BTC, you designates each address and number of bitcoin being sent in output. Information about transactions come through the whole system of engines that create blockchain.

[aizadelacruz99]

It looks like with some other money.

[Iranus]

Looks like there are almost 11.000 nodes at the moment

That site only shows reachable nodes.  Most nodes are not going to be shown on that site, so there's many more.

So where are the nodes stored?

On anyone's computer who wants to run one.  As long as you're aware of the potential costs, it should be relatively easy.

That's why the BTC network has run, with zero downtime, for almost nine years.  The same can't be said of your average IT system.

[DannyHamilton]

I guess I'm not understanding exactly how it works.

So where are the transactions stored? Nodes?

I was studying the mining rigs and noticed there aren't any hard drives on them.
So the mining is just computing the mathematical algorithms, and fills up nodes.
So where are the nodes stored?

Generally, full nodes are run by solo-miners, mining pools, and merchants, but a node can be run by anybody that has enough resources and wants to.  There is no need to gain permission from any entity first.  Just install the software and run it.

Mining consists of 2 pieces...

The first piece is verifying the transactions and blocks that are received as well as building new blocks (you need a full node to do this).  The second piece is the "proof-of-work", which involves calculating a HUGE number of SHA256 hashes to search for a nonce that will result in a low enough hash value (you need ASIC hardware to do this).

A solo-miner handles both of these pieces themselves.

Miners that mine in a mining pool are actually only performing the "proof-of-work" portion.  They rely on the pool to run the node and handle the verification for them.  Since they are simply calculating SHA256 hashes as fast as possible on 80 bytes of data that is supplied to them from the pool, they don't need a hard drive.