Thank you for your input. Do you know if it's possible to run two nodes on the same laptop using the same blockchain copy? I don't have enough space to run another copy of the blockchain.
You cannot run two instances of the node that points to the same blockchain directory at the same time. Bitcoin isn't designed for that.
Also, how would I go about configuring the node as you mentioned with blocking incoming except for the whitelisted? I've never whitelisted before. Thanks again.
If you want to only allow one IP to connect to you, the best way is probably to set up your firewall to only allow that IP to have incoming connections via port 8333.