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

[Shishir99]

I am sad to see that you have so slow internet. Is the speed that low in general in your country? At the same time, 7hrs without electricity, it sucks... I hope you are ok now.

I am one of his countrymates and I guess he is okay with that. Usually, electricity does not shut down for that long in the winter season. But, sometimes they cut off the electricity for some maintenance. But, if we talk about seasons except for winter, it's pretty common to survive 10 hours without electricity. If you talk about slow internet, it's below average compared to the rest of the world.

Most internet users use 5mbps speed unless they need special speed for some special work like streaming or uploading content. That's why we hate online installers. We people always try to download the full package of any software.

BTW, I have downloaded Bitcoin Core's latest version and started downloading the block.

[o_e_l_e_o]

But still: the user will know soon enough when he realized blocks and chainstate are too small, and his new deposits don't show up.

Assuming I am performing such an attack in order to scam the user in question, then I can fill my fake blocks with real transactions taken from the real blockchain, thereby padding them to full size and padding the UTXO set to full size as well. In fact, I could probably just use the last x number of real blocks and add in the fake transactions - without running a full node he isn't verifying anything anyway. Or conversely if he does want to verify but only the most recent x number of blocks, then I just do the same thing but add my fake transactions in to a historic block he isn't going to verify.

Either way, it's possible to fool anything less than verification from block 0.

[LoyceV]

I can fill my fake blocks with real transactions taken from the real blockchain, thereby padding them to full size and padding the UTXO set to full size as well. In fact, I could probably just use the last x number of real blocks and add in the fake transactions - without running a full node he isn't verifying anything anyway.

Wouldn't the user notice something's wrong the moment his Bitcoin Core can't download new blocks? Or are you going to run many nodes to support this (hypothetical) scam?

Or conversely if he does want to verify but only the most recent x number of blocks, then I just do the same thing but add my fake transactions in to a historic block he isn't going to verify.

That would be in chainstate, right?

[o_e_l_e_o]

Wouldn't the user notice something's wrong the moment his Bitcoin Core can't download new blocks?

He could still download the new blocks I'm feeding him. Or he could throw away my chain and download a different chain from another peer. But since he isn't verifying anything, how does he know which chain is correct?

That would be in chainstate, right?

Yeah. In pruned nodes, the blocks are downloaded, verified, and then the changes to the UTXO set written to chainstate before the blocks are pruned. In this "don't bother verifying any old data" model, then I can just slip my fake transactions in there and he would be none the wiser.

[Ultegra134]

Day 7, half way there!

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 644311,
  "headers": 825158,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000000f487c50304ed24ab52f45e7b7411c27a2711ad00e40",
  "difficulty": 16947802333946.61,
  "time": 1597784486,
  "mediantime": 1597781536,
  "verificationprogress": 0.6152154956715028,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000128a298bdae3942bb7ea9e90",
  "size_on_disk": 34431671167,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 618546,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 34999369728,
  "warnings": ""
}

[apogio]

Usually, electricity does not shut down for that long in the winter season. But, sometimes they cut off the electricity for some maintenance. But, if we talk about seasons except for winter, it's pretty common to survive 10 hours without electricity.

10 hrs without electricity is a lot. Not having electricity will suspend nearly all of your activities. Internet is important, of course, but I guess having light and being able to cook is more important. But if we strictly talk about internet speeds, then 5Mbps is below average for sure. But, don't forget there are people who have no internet at all, so... Anyway the whole situation sucks. It's kind of ironic but I hope bitcoin will help you live a brighter life, at least financially speaking.

edit: I think we have derailed from the topic. So well done for running nodes despite the circumstances.

[Shishir99]

10 hrs without electricity is a lot. Not having electricity will suspend nearly all of your activities. Internet is important, of course, but I guess having light and being able to cook is more important. But if we strictly talk about internet speeds, then 5Mbps is below average for sure. But, don't forget there are people who have no internet at all, so... Anyway the whole situation sucks. It's kind of ironic but I hope bitcoin will help you live a brighter life, at least financially speaking.

As you may understand from my writing style, we Bangladeshi people are used to it already. But the situation is not the same everywhere. People in major cities rarely experience power cuts while people who live in the village side are used to a few hours of load shedding. Most of the people use IPS in their house because of the load shedding. It doesn't bother us too much unless the power cut is for too long. I live in a village and a city too. I often travel from here to there for several purposes. My Internet speed is kind of good compared to 90 percent of other people. I was using a 20mbps connection when I downloaded the Bitcoin Core. But I already paid for a 50mbps connection so I can download the block faster. My ISP will upgrade my connection tonight.

Here is the progress so far.

Day 1:

[spiker777]

Day 3 Progress

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 319932,
  "headers": 825174,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000022e40c460772f3a2982df102c4fb3f957f8f2315bd279745",
  "difficulty": 27428630902.25787,
  "time": 1410317637,
  "mediantime": 1410315143,
  "verificationprogress": 0.04879378178664742,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000182d71c45b72bf0b14687",
  "size_on_disk": 26664032081,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 0,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 299999690752,
  "warnings": ""
}

9 Years and 17 Weeks behind.

[NotATether]

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

Code:

Day 1:
Shishir99

Day 3:
spiker777
SilverCryptoBullet
apogio

Day 6:
tech30338
DYING_S0UL

Day 7:
Ultegra134

Awaiting Status update:
oktana (please post your day 2 stats)

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.


A number of errors in the previous progress have been fixed. Starting from today, if you forget to post your progress then you will receive a friendly reminder from me in PM to post an update.

[tech30338]

Day 7

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825262,
  "headers": 825262,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000003287017fb6998ca6d29a5273c1b3d06488dd2bfa0e894",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1704958113,
  "mediantime": 1704957106,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999958118239488,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000650acf9f67f75202669e74d7",
  "size_on_disk": 4876699480,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 822814,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[oktana]

DAY 3


Explanation: I am really sorry as I totally forgot to post an update. Now, I have day 3 (current) progress, but I missed out on posting day 2. My internet is not always great that’s why the increase per hour is not so much.

[Shishir99]

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

Code:

Day 1:
Shishir99

I have a stupid question. What if I try running two nodes on two devices? 
My internet package was upgraded today and currently, I am using a 50mpbs connection. But I am not getting actual speed for some reason. My ISP said something about pick hour. But I am happy with my progress so far. The estimated time shows 42 hours left and I am on my 2nd day. I guess a pruned node does not help the network. Or does it?

Day 2:

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Day 4

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 717517,
  "headers": 825323,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000000e88e2bbbe30272f0cd19275dbc162e2360c54720899d",
  "difficulty": 24272331996979.97,
  "time": 1641515813,
  "mediantime": 1641514043,
  "verificationprogress": 0.7371118370101215,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000026a40f3b42502fdee748009a",
  "size_on_disk": 4627989965,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 714921,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 4999610368,
  "warnings": ""
}

[Ultegra134]

Day 8:


{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 668189,
  "headers": 825323,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000069dc08c3f85eb712518cc42402f7c1b226bffcaf4c4ff",
  "difficulty": 20823531150111.52,
  "time": 1611922725,
  "mediantime": 1611920666,
  "verificationprogress": 0.6711432992509168,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000018b8c2a7982ce8e258d5bfee",
  "size_on_disk": 32546394576,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 645761,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 34999369728,
  "warnings": ""
}

Progress is significantly slower after surpassing 50%, currently at 67%, but haven't had the computer turned on at all times the past few days. I'm expecting it to fully sync in the upcoming two days.

[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.

Hey NotATether! I came home last night very late and was very tired. So I forgot to post my progress for day 7. Can you please update that? Along with that, I am posting my day 8 progress (combined day 7 and day 8.). Just a reminder to clear up confusion.  


DAY 7+8 progress:

Note: I know I know the progress is very slow. For some reasons, from evening to midnight the internet doesn't work properly. I have given the screenshot. 4 years 45 weeks behind with 40% progress...

Edit: Had one question!!! Does the progress gets affected, for example slow down as we get closer to sync or when less blocks are left?

[LoyceV]

Does the progress gets affected, for example slow down as we get closer to sync or when less blocks are left?

I made a graph for that, when limited by RAM. If you're limited by internet instead of RAM, your result may be different.

[apogio]

DAY 4:

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 825333,
  "headers": 825333,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000001effacfe911621c225879148c276000f753b78d68503b",
  "difficulty": 73197634206448.34,
  "time": 1704990211,
  "mediantime": 1704989116,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999995585458187,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000651d465e2eaa715e039b7e26",
  "size_on_disk": 613680624442,
  "pruned": false,
  "warnings": ""
}

[DYING_S0UL]

I made a graph for that, when limited by RAM. If you're limited by internet instead of RAM, your result may be different.

BTW I am limited by internet. RAM (8gb) should not be an issue because Bitcoin core is the only thing that is running on my device. Nothing else on the foreground or background as you can see on the screenshot (only 50% ram occupied).

Just checked your graph. It seems progress decreased as you got closer to sync. Another user said the same thing.

 

[LoyceV]

BTW I am limited by internet. RAM (8gb) should not be an issue because Bitcoin core is the only thing that is running on my device. Nothing else on the foreground or background as you can see on the screenshot (only 50% ram occupied).

Just checked your graph. It seems progress decreased as you got closer to sync. Another user said the same thing.

Keep an eye on the size of your chainstate directory. Once that grows, your RAM won't be sufficient anymore.

[spiker777]

Progress Update: Day 4

Code:

{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 342562,
  "headers": 825348,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000ff98b96c574d35473b54654f43fc9b3209741fd700d84c6",
  "difficulty": 41272873894.69702,
  "time": 1423407652,
  "mediantime": 1423405465,
  "verificationprogress": 0.06207416908093528,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000048fa225f50f2fd1b10560",
  "size_on_disk": 34820394570,
  "pruned": true,
  "pruneheight": 0,
  "automatic_pruning": true,
  "prune_target_size": 299999690752,
  "warnings": ""
}

 

BTW I am limited by internet. RAM (8gb) should not be an issue because Bitcoin core is the only thing that is running on my device. Nothing else on the foreground or background as you can see on the screenshot (only 50% ram occupied).

Just checked your graph. It seems progress decreased as you got closer to sync. Another user said the same thing.

Keep an eye on the size of your chainstate directory. Once that grows, your RAM won't be sufficient anymore.

My Chainstate folder exceeded 800 MB.  but I have 16 GB Rams. so I guess I should be all set. right?
Edit: just checked rame usage in task manager, Bitcoin Core using only 500 MB. while Google Chrome using a whooping 2 GB ram. lol