[CHALLENGE] Run A Bitcoin Node: 14 Days To 14 Merits

[NotATether]

What if I try running two nodes on two devices?  

Additional nodes are not counted inside the challenge.

[1715490891]

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[tech30338]

Day 8

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825413,
  "headers": 825413,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000000dddbaef5db6266d3772d8f6626ddb5c031658dbf5ff3",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1705042235,
  "mediantime": 1705039555,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999981771081246,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000653214472b65d93503d1d7f6",
  "size_on_disk": 4846964079,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 822953,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Day 5

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 760754,
  "headers": 825417,
  "bestblockhash": "0000000000000000000278f7981fe8ccc73eae3ed05a5e2099c78a9279545b47",
  "difficulty": 36835682546787.98,
  "time": 1667008377,
  "mediantime": 1667006318,
  "verificationprogress": 0.8158092911145052,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000382ee6c89f31054ca7303c7d",
  "size_on_disk": 4729651672,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 757181,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[oktana]

DAY 4



My day 4 was great as the my internet connection really favored me. I left my system on and woke up to see such increment of 2 times what had been downloaded. I also changed my pruning to 400 GB considering I have that storage to spare.

The files that has been downloaded is a total of 53GB for me and it’s at 14%. I did the math and I’ll need to download 7.14 times of what I already did to be at 100%. That then means 53GB * 7.14 times which is 378.42GB.  Adding the already downloaded files, that’s a total of 431.42GB which isn’t the same amount as I thought was mentioned.

[NotATether]

Progress: (valid as of the creation date of this post)

Code:

Day 2:
Shishir99

Day 4:
oktana
spiker777
apogio

Day 5:
SilverCryptoBullet

Day 8:
Ultegra134
tech30338
DYING_S0UL

If you see any error in the progress report like your name isn't listed correctly, and so on, please let me know so I can fix it.

[kuriboh]

To incentivize people to run a node, I am running a merit challenge. Run Bitcoin Core on your computer for 14 days, to receive 14 merits from me!

Challenge Rules:

• This challenge is open for anyone with <1000 merit.
• You need to download Bitcoin Core (any version from this decade) and run bitcoind, the bitcoin daemon, for at least 14 days.
  
• The node must be running on mainnet, which is the default setting. Alternative blockchains like testnet are not allowed.
• Every 24 hours, you need to run bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo and paste the output here in code-blocks like below. This is to prove that you are actually running a node.
  
  
  Code:

  {
    "chain" : "str",
    "blocks" : n,
    "headers" : n,
    "bestblockhash" : "str",
    "difficulty" : n,
    "mediantime" : n,
    "verificationprogress" : n,
    "initialblockdownload" : true|false,
    "chainwork" : "hex",
    "size_on_disk" : n,
    "pruned" : true|false,
    "pruneheight" : n,
    "automatic_pruning" : true|false,
    "prune_target_size" : n,
    "softforks" : {
      "xxxx" : {
        "type" : "str",
        "bip9" : {
          "status" : "str",
          "bit" : n,
          "start_time" : xxx,
          "timeout" : xxx,
          "since" : n,
          "statistics" : {
            "period" : n,
            "threshold" : n,
            "elapsed" : n,
            "count" : n,
            "possible" : true|false
          }
        },
        "height" : n,
        "active" : true|false
      },
      ...
    },
    "warnings" : "str"
  }
  
  

  
  If running the GUI version of core you can also make a screenshot of the progress window.
  
  
• It is alright if you forget to do a 24-hour update but don't give me just one or two updates and expect a reward for that.
• "Merit begging" posts will be deleted.
• You may run with any other configuration options as you like, such as pruning.
• Nodes that have synced at least 99% of the blockchain (verificationprogress field in the output) will be given 14 merits. You will not get any merits unless your chain is near-fully synced.
  
• Do not enroll alt accounts.
• To join, start a bitcoin node and paste the output of bitcoin-cli getblockchain info here. That will be considered the first day.

I reserve the right to modify the rules or end this challenge at any time, with immediate effect, for whatever reason.

Good luck, and happy node running!

Is it still running? I want to do it. My laptop has 525GB SSD, 500GB HDD, and 8GB RAM. I am using ten mb net and want to start with it. Let me know if it can be done.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Edit: just checked rame usage in task manager, Bitcoin Core using only 500 MB. while Google Chrome using a whooping 2 GB ram. lol

Chrome is an awful browser for many reasons, and resource usage is one of them.

In Bitcoin Core, go to Settings -> Options and check the size of the database cache you have set. Increase this if you want Core to use more RAM (you'll need to restart Core after you change this setting).

[Shishir99]

Progress: (valid as of the creation date of this post)

If you see any error in the progress report like your name isn't listed correctly, and so on, please let me know so I can fix it.

I will be on Day 3 after I post my progress.
Now I started to relate the issue the same as others. Even though my internet was down for a while, I was expecting to download at least 40% of the total blocks on day 3rd. But, It's getting slower a little bit. My progress per hour was like 1.5% which has decreased to 0.9% per hour now. This is my progress so far.

Day 3

Is it still running? I want to do it. My laptop has 525GB SSD, 500GB HDD, and 8GB RAM. I am using ten mb net and want to start with it. Let me know if it can be done.

First of all, stop quoting the entire thread.
2nd, yes. You can run a pruned node with this configuration. You could start today if you want.

[Ultegra134]

Day 9:


{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 734271,
  "headers": 825471,
  "bestblockhash": "0000000000000000000043cb3475f4899976fe63924a28770143685706885fee",
  "difficulty": 29794407589312.08,
  "time": 1651338062,
  "mediantime": 1651337368,
  "verificationprogress": 0.8015761755798795,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "00000000000000000000000000000000000000002cf891a9fab8d3c083b03ac0",
  "size_on_disk": 31838751658,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 710721,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 34999369728,
  "warnings": ""
}

80%, I'm expecting to have fully synced by tomorrow afternoon.

[apogio]

DAY 5:

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825485,
  "headers": 825485,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000004313185be476ec79d0fb8129c6cee870fcd81efaf7a8",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1705077702,
  "mediantime": 1705075984,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999965683992686,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "00000000000000000000000000000000000000006544cd98dba81d101d9c5bfe",
  "size_on_disk": 613966779402,
  "pruned": false,
  "warnings": ""
}

[spiker777]

Day 5 Progress

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 360616,
  "headers": 825508,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000018b892cd5599906a2c10402f9bbef5e2c0729c00069667",
  "difficulty": 47589591153.62501,
  "time": 1434123691,
  "mediantime": 1434120397,
  "verificationprogress": 0.07551385040577624,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000798a331708fc6300be1c7",
  "size_on_disk": 43163898844,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 0,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 299999690752,
  "warnings": ""
}

Not happy with my progress today. I don't know if it was my internet or what.

[DYING_S0UL]

DAY 9 progress:

Half way, 50% completed....3 years 49 weeks behind.

[tech30338]

Day 9

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825582,
  "headers": 825582,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000009e471fd381b967e6a19332493635c15f42a34dc3918e",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1705124526,
  "mediantime": 1705121989,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999944216357666,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000655e07435ae4f15e6777dc17",
  "size_on_disk": 4867912546,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 823109,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[oktana]

DAY 5

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 457595,
  "headers": 825571,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000002347cf9189a8781f28978903a6c8ca4d9c42069dba1c740",
  "difficulty": 460769358090.7142,
  "time": 1489720622,
  "mediantime": 1489718194,
  "verificationprogress": 0.215934603936724,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000004658db87b704cecc2657bc",
  "size_on_disk": 92916117012,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 330303,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 399999238144,
  "warnings": ""
}

Now 6 years and 42 weeks behind. That's about a 6% increase from yesterday's progress. Sometimes the progress gets so bad I have to restart Bitcoin Core many times.

[LoyceV]

Sometimes the progress gets so bad I have to restart Bitcoin Core many times.

I don't think that helps. If anything, it makes it worse.
"Being slow" can have 2 main causes: slow internet, or slow hardware. If the problem is your internet, restarting Bitcoin Core won't help. If it's your hardware, all you can do is shut down other programs. Restarting a web browser can (temporarily) help to reduce it's memory consumption.

[oktana]

Sometimes the progress gets so bad I have to restart Bitcoin Core many times.

I don't think that helps. If anything, it makes it worse.
"Being slow" can have 2 main causes: slow internet, or slow hardware. If the problem is your internet, restarting Bitcoin Core won't help. If it's your hardware, all you can do is shut down other programs. Restarting a web browser can (temporarily) help to reduce it's memory consumption.

Mmm. But when I do this, I normally see little changes though. And it’s tempting to do when I see progress increase of 0.02 per hour. But based on a reply I saw here, could it be the block it’s handling at the time? Because I do use speed test (used this so much the previous night) and I can get 3MBS or like last night’s 15MBS. As for my CPU usage it’s currently below 10% (and the increase per hour is 1.30%) but if I get the slow progress again, I’ll check.

[LoyceV]

it’s tempting to do when I see progress increase of 0.02 per hour.

I can't think of any reason why shutting down and restarting would improve things.

could it be the block it’s handling at the time?

You can check how long it takes to move up one block.

As for my CPU usage it’s currently below 10% (and the increase per hour is 1.30%)

It could be disk limited too. One way or another, restarting only adds extra work.

[apogio]

DAY 6:

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825603,
  "headers": 825603,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000037a262221634ffc442bc37c7c160358ec14e2225bba9f",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1705136961,
  "mediantime": 1705134951,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999994427774004,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000065637d5083a2efd3a452ed44",
  "size_on_disk": 614190288502,
  "pruned": false,
  "warnings": ""
}

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Day 6

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 798845,
  "headers": 825609,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000015ac1274dfe28392050286cd7dae1242d2cc4a0eefbdb",
  "difficulty": 53911173001054.59,
  "time": 1689456577,
  "mediantime": 1689454326,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9091777796478837,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "00000000000000000000000000000000000000004eeb21f60f210841fcd62736",
  "size_on_disk": 4429001273,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 796653,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[o_e_l_e_o]

Mmm. But when I do this, I normally see little changes though. And it’s tempting to do when I see progress increase of 0.02 per hour.

Does it actually make any noticeable difference to the overall percentage though? I suspect what is happening is that when you restart you are simply interrupting the sampling process, and so when you restart Core thinks it is running faster than it is.