How Many Full Nodes Bitcoin Online ?

[VB1001]

Since I have Bitcoin I have always had a Full Node online, first on an old PC, then on a laptop and now I will install it on a 24/7 server where I have my music, photography and video server.

It the least i can do for Bitcoin. lol

[JayJuanGee]

It seems that the poll should include categories of people who might not currently have a full node, but consider decent chances that they will run a full node in the future.

[Last of the V8s]

A question, in the collapse of transactions 2017 perhaps with thousands and thousands of active nodes we would not have had the problem in the network.

No it's the miners who include some of the backlog of transactions into the blocks.
The node you are running checks whether they did that according to your rules.

[VB1001]

It seems that the poll should include categories of people who might not currently have a full node, but consider decent chances that they will run a full node in the future.

Ok I will update the voting options.

This technical discourse is the best when you learn and awaken interest in its beginnings and how the Bitcoin network works.

I hope it continues like this for a long time.

[vapourminer]

my node is a "part time" full node, and lives on my daily driver desktop. no pruning i want the entire blockchain so i can validate it myself, even off line, right to the genesis block if need be. its only 206 gb, well within even old home computer specs. i just point it to its own dedicated ssd.

but due to VERY slow internet (1.5 megabits/sec) i only run it every few days, or if im sending or expecting to receive something i need to verify at once. after all, MY node is the one i trust. when its running my internet is pretty much useless for anything else but basic browsing. thus the "as needed" thing.

keeping blocks and bandwidth requirements small(ish) to the point where basically anyone, with almost any computer from the last 10 years or so, can run a full on node with mainstream (or below to a point) internet is a main strength of btc imo.

everyone who uses btc should be able validate the blockchain themselves if they want, which would need a full node with a full copy of the blockchain. else why trust it?

[fenican]

It's sad that, after nearly a decade since the Genesis block (01/03/2009), the total size of all the transactions ever done on Bitcoin is only about 200GB. Holy low volume, Batman. We need more people using the coin.

[VB1001]

my node is a "part time" full node, and lives on my daily driver desktop. no pruning i want the entire blockchain so i can validate it myself, even off line, right to the genesis block if need be. its only 206 gb, well within even old home computer specs. i just point it to its own dedicated ssd.

but due to VERY slow internet (1.5 megabits/sec) i only run it every few days, or if im sending or expecting to receive something i need to verify at once. after all, MY node is the one i trust. when its running my internet is pretty much useless for anything else but basic browsing. thus the "as needed" thing.

keeping blocks and bandwidth requirements small(ish) to the point where basically anyone, with almost any computer from the last 10 years or so, can run a full on node with mainstream (or below to a point) internet is a main strength of btc imo.

everyone who uses btc should be able validate the blockchain themselves if they want, which would need a full node with a full copy of the blockchain. else why trust it?

Very interesting message, a conventional PC running a full node online with a 1.5 Mbs Internet connection, perfect, this is the goal.

[franky1]

bitnodes.earn.com
under 10k nodes.. (less that 7k are full nodes)
over 3000 of all under 10k nodes of mixed ability (full and not so full) are on servers

gotta laugh.

you cant be decentralised if you all who are running one of the 1400+ nodes on amazon.. are running a node on amazon.
if your running a node on amazon and ur not a business.. your just not seeing the point of running a node

anyway https://bitnodes.earn.com/nodes/?q=1037
less than 7k are shown as being full nodes

[VB1001]

The new requests of the participants will be published in a single thread that I will update.

I encourage you to publish your opinions, if we get enough we will look for the way to send them to the Bitcoin Core team.

If you like Bitcoin, put a Node in your life, Bitcoin was not born just to make money.

An important detail that differentiates us, remember, we are all Bitcoin !!!

[franky1]

2 idea's devs ignore simple because i dont kiss their ass:

1. fee priority
though i personally am a white brit. i can see the impact fee's have on multiple countries because i actually went and visited countries. when thinking of decentralisation its best to think about others. not just a typical rich wall street american

imagine a country where 25cents/pence was 5 hours labour for a dozen countries
saying 25cents is not acceptable as its ruling out the desires of a dozen countries
saying $1 is cheap is ruling out several dozen countries desires

if the rich want to pay more because its still cheaper than other methods. then they should pay more

EG bring back a fee priority mechanism
fee =
total sats=(bytes + (total input value/1000))*(144 - confirms of inputs)

this formula would make it so that
a. if someone was to spam the network everyblock(1confirm resend) they pay 143 times more than someone that only spends once a day.
b. those that send more, pay more.. they can all afford 0.1%
c. if someone had a bloated tx of 2.5kb vs someone with only 250bytes the bloater pays 10x more for the 10x space they consume
d. this just gets a easy to automate fee. while still allowing people to add more if they want to wave their hands in the air that they want priority.

2. initial block download headache
these days 200gb is storage the size of a finger nail. its not "servr farm". these days a 4tb hard drive is less than a single persons grocery bill for one week. so again no debate about size of price needs to be FUD'd

the real issue people actually have is having to wait.
yep thats the real complaint. having to wait hours to spend funds.

the solution is simple. dont do block download first before displaying balance. do a quick wallet check and get the addresses of local node and SPV/bloom details about them.. that way within seconds of opening up the node people know a UNVERIFIED BALANCE, which is better than nothing. if they spend and find out the bloom data was faked. then no harm the tx wont relay and wont confirm.. but atleast users can actually do something when they open their node.
then the initial block download becomes a background activity people dont notice because they are not having to wait for the IBD before even seeing a balance verified or unverified

[bitserve]

^

About your first point. Fees has nothing to do with non-mining nodes. Well, yes, there is a minimum fee and any tx with lower fee gets dropped by all nodes but, in the end, it is miners that decide what practical minimum fees are needed to be included in the next block. I don't think there's nothing the developers need to do about that... it's up the fee market.

About your second point. That's what SPV wallets are for. You are proposing that a full node somehow "degrades" itself into an SPV which basically defeats its own purpose.

[franky1]

^

About your first point. Fees has nothing to do with non-mining nodes. Well, yes, there is a minimum fee and any tx with lower fee gets dropped by all nodes but, in the end, it is miners that decide what practical minimum fees are needed to be included in the next block. I don't think there's nothing the developers need to do about that... it's up the fee market.

About your second point. That's what SPV wallets are for. You are proposing that a full node somehow "degrades" itself into an SPV which basically defeats its own purpose.

1. mining bribes can remain miners choice.
im talking about a NETWORK rule that takes the guess work out of min fee just to be relayed peer 2 peer.
saying its "upto the fee market" is useless
if everyone is checking the same website that estimates the market.. then everyone pays the same amount.
meaning someone spamming the network pays the same amount as someone that only spends once a day.
meaning someone in america spending $4 on a coffee pays the same as someone in third world who pays $0.10 for coffee

again think outside the box of rich american rule. think about a fairer variable rule that alters depending on circumstance. thus not ruling out lower classes

a rule that penalises spam spending habits. infact to be devils advocate it would actually make people that want to spend many times a day, find it cheap to use LN. where as those who only spend once a day who wont benefit from LN still find it cheap to use onchain. remove bias and removing forced adoption of LN, allowing choice, teaching people better money handling habits. takes the guess work out of it. takes out the everyone must visit this fee estimate site. taking out the america knows best so fees are set to american spending standards

2 bloom filters before IBD
. its not about making a full node an SPV. its about letting a user get on with their lives while they remain part of the p2p network

imagine wanting to play GTA game.
would you prefer to wait a day downloading from torrents and then play. or get a quick demo that allows you to do a training mission while the full game torrent downloads in the background... you will soon understand that frustrations are then removed because people get to do something rather than just looking at a download % screen

[VB1001]

If after reading this thread you feel curious to mount a node you can do it for little money.

The simplest thing is to use your computer and install it.
You can buy a hard drive and store the largest part of the node on the hard drive.
This will be to invest a small amount of $ and apart from installing the node we will gain storage space for other files.

If you have a NAS you can run it 24/7 full time.

[vapourminer]

my node is a "part time" full node, and lives on my daily driver desktop. no pruning i want the entire blockchain so i can validate it myself, even off line, right to the genesis block if need be. its only 206 gb, well within even old home computer specs. i just point it to its own dedicated ssd.

[...]

keeping blocks and bandwidth requirements small(ish) to the point where basically anyone, with almost any computer from the last 10 years or so, can run a full on node with mainstream (or below to a point) internet is a main strength of btc imo.

everyone who uses btc should be able validate the blockchain themselves if they want, which would need a full node with a full copy of the blockchain. else why trust it?

Very interesting message, a conventional PC running a full node online with a 1.5 Mbs Internet connection, perfect, this is the goal.

i should clarify that running a full or part time node on your daily driver isnt the ideal way to do so, but as ive shown it can certainly be done. dedicated hardware is better, an off the shelf system from the last decade should be able to handle it. even some netbooks from a while ago should have the chops and those are dirt cheap. 320 gig drive, atom cpu, ubuntu or other flavor of linux.. poof, btc node.

reason mine is still on a daily driver is im lazy, and because back in 2011, when i first installed the btc wallet and started mining, it was to my desktop at that time. this same wallet/node has just been moved to the replacement daily drivers when i build new ones. i was in it more for the tech then, the "magic interetz money" bit was a fun meme that possibly might help pay for my gaming videocards, but hardly one i took seriously until i had leaned a lot more about how banks and fiat worked.

once i understood the whitepaper and its implications.. well thats when the tech took a second seat to the real meaning of btc.. which is be your own bank.

as for keeping btc on a node on a daily driver desktop.. well mine has pocket change. how your main stack of btc should be secured really depends on your comfort and knowledge level of hardware, software, security. if its an amount that you cant risk, paper wallets, hardware wallets, air gapped computer wallets.. all these and more are options, and i would use a combination of them.

[VB1001]

my node is a "part time" full node, and lives on my daily driver desktop. no pruning i want the entire blockchain so i can validate it myself, even off line, right to the genesis block if need be. its only 206 gb, well within even old home computer specs. i just point it to its own dedicated ssd.

[...]

keeping blocks and bandwidth requirements small(ish) to the point where basically anyone, with almost any computer from the last 10 years or so, can run a full on node with mainstream (or below to a point) internet is a main strength of btc imo.

everyone who uses btc should be able validate the blockchain themselves if they want, which would need a full node with a full copy of the blockchain. else why trust it?

Very interesting message, a conventional PC running a full node online with a 1.5 Mbs Internet connection, perfect, this is the goal.

i should clarify that running a full or part time node on your daily driver isnt the ideal way to do so, but as ive shown it can certainly be done. dedicated hardware is better, an off the shelf system from the last decade should be able to handle it. even some netbooks from a while ago should have the chops and those are dirt cheap. 320 gig drive, atom cpu, ubuntu or other flavor of linux.. poof, btc node.

reason mine is still on a daily driver is im lazy, and because back in 2011, when i first installed the btc wallet and started mining, it was to my desktop at that time. this same wallet/node has just been moved to the replacement daily drivers when i build new ones. i was in it more for the tech then, the "magic interetz money" bit was a fun meme that possibly might help pay for my gaming videocards, but hardly one i took seriously until i had leaned a lot more about how banks and fiat worked.

once i understood the whitepaper and its implications.. well thats when the tech took a second seat to the real meaning of btc.. which is be your own bank.

as for keeping btc on a node on a daily driver desktop.. well mine has pocket change. how your main stack of btc should be secured really depends on your comfort and knowledge level of hardware, software, security. if its an amount that you cant risk, paper wallets, hardware wallets, air gapped computer wallets.. all these and more are options, and i would use a combination of them.

Today with the popularity of Bitcoin, new users do not bother to know what Bitcoin really is, they are only interested in earning fast money.
It's a shame not to have been here at the beginning of Bitcoin, you are part of something very special.
When someone asks me what Bitcoin is, I try to explain what it is and take the opportunity to tell him to read a bit about Bitcoin, one of the books that is pretty well explained is Mastering Bitcoin Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies.



If everyone who comes to Bitcoin understood their technology, we would have more nodes working.
Thank you

[VB1001]

You have a Full Node 24/7 , tell your experience ?

I only run full-nodes when i use my computer since computer isn't designed to run 24/7

If this is true, it depends on the computer, it is not convenient to be there 24/7, at least you need a box that is well ventilated to maintain a correct temperature.

Do you have any suggestions for Bitcoin Core Node and Wallet in the new updates ?

Better linux support such as release .appimage, .rpm or .deb since install from .tar.gz is inconvenient and not all linux distro support 3rd-party repository by default

Good point I will add to the requests.

What do not you like about Bitcore Node ?

Minimal UI and could run on low-end/barebone-pc, few people even manged to run Core and LND on Raspberry Pi 3 which is amazing IMO

If I think the same thing, the interface is a bit poor and they have to design it to adapt it and install it with any device, if they do not, it is difficult to move forward.

Now a sensitive issue, you think that the Bitcoin network would have to reward in some way the complete nodes 24/7?

No, especially it could weaken Bitcoin security/decentralization

If after reading this thread you feel curious to mount a node you can do it for little money.

The simplest thing is to use your computer and install it.
You can buy a hard drive and store the largest part of the node on the hard drive.
This will be to invest a small amount of $ and apart from installing the node we will gain storage space for other files.

If you have a NAS you can run it 24/7 full time.

Yes, you can run full nodes with low money, but that doesn't apply to some developing/3rd-world country.

Higher electronic taxes, weak USD/country's fiat exchange rate and high inflation make electronic/electronic component expensive.
Additionally, running computer/server 24/7 (on long term) cost more money than buy an HDD due to electricity price.

You're right, here I made a mistake, there are many parts in the world that unfortunately can not afford something like this, for low wages, very high electricity costs, instability in the electricity grid or for political reasons.

Thanks for commenting.

I answer by quoting in green, very instructive your answers.

Regards.

[somac.]

Nice Thread.

I've had a full node in the past, and will again soon. I'm setting up a bitcoin and lightning node on a Raspberry Pi as we speak. I'm going with the raspiblitz setup, it's pretty sweet and very simple.

link for anyone who is interested

https://github.com/rootzoll/raspiblitz

[vapourminer]

It's a shame not to have been here at the beginning of Bitcoin, you are part of something very special.

it 1st showed up on my radar mid 2011 when a few computer tech sites started posting about it. i happened to have hardware that met the gpu requirements, so figured why not? i had no idea it would take off as it has, figured it was just a neat experiment on digital money. although in retrospect i should have.

When someone asks me what Bitcoin is, I try to explain what it is and take the opportunity to tell him to read a bit about Bitcoin, one of the books that is pretty well explained is Mastering Bitcoin Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies.

yup, got that book on my end table. a must read for anyone who wants to understand (or at least understand better) btc rather than just use it.

[VB1001]

Nice Thread.

I've had a full node in the past, and will again soon. I'm setting up a bitcoin and lightning node on a Raspberry Pi as we speak. I'm going with the raspiblitz setup, it's pretty sweet and very simple.

link for anyone who is interested

https://github.com/rootzoll/raspiblitz

Good news, I hope when you have it online, tell us your experience, I visited the link, the tutorial has a lot of information for the configuration.

Regards.

[VB1001]

It's a shame not to have been here at the beginning of Bitcoin, you are part of something very special.

it 1st showed up on my radar mid 2011 when a few computer tech sites started posting about it. i happened to have hardware that met the gpu requirements, so figured why not? i had no idea it would take off as it has, figured it was just a neat experiment on digital money. although in retrospect i should have.

When someone asks me what Bitcoin is, I try to explain what it is and take the opportunity to tell him to read a bit about Bitcoin, one of the books that is pretty well explained is Mastering Bitcoin Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies.

yup, got that book on my end table. a must read for anyone who wants to understand (or at least understand better) btc rather than just use it.

You are giving me a lot of envy, healthy, but envy.
Receiving the first Bitcoins mined at home had to be fantastic.
It was a good experiment and save the Bitcoins until today is the best reward.
Congratulations.

Regarding the book, yes, you would have to force it to buy it before having Bitcoin, another one that I recommend is Satoshi Nakamoto White Paper https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

The book and the White Paper are required reading.