Several terms are being thrown out of the blockchain space, and “node” is one of them. Perhaps, you’ve encountered it too and you’re here to know what exactly it means and how it contributes to blockchain’s ecosystem.
Generally, a node is a “connection” within a telecommunication network, and it may also be any physical device or system that is tied up to a network in order to execute certain tasks including creating, sending, and receiving information through a communication channel.
Nodes sometimes vary according to the layer of protocol that is being touched on.
Let’s say a basic resident network has two file servers, a fax machine, and two laptops. This means a network possesses four nodes, with every single one of them equipped with a MAC address used to identify them.
To fully understand what nodes are, let’s have a quick glance at what a blockchain network is.
How Blockchain Works
Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT), which works as a decentralized online ledger for transactions. It is designed to duplicate itself to various devices inside a network.
Technically, there’s a vast network of computers that are communicating constantly, back and forth, sending and receiving information to other computers. All of these computers work together in order to verify transactions and update similar database nodes.
These devices are called “nodes,” and they are in charge of the safekeeping of blockchain, to make sure it is immutable, fair, and secure.
What is a Node?
To put it in easy terms, a node in the crypto space is basically a computer that links to a cryptocurrency network. The computer or node is responsible for supporting the network by validating and relaying transactions that are happening within the ecosystem. Moreover, it also creates a duplicate of the full blockchain.
Any and every computer that connects to the network of Bitcoin is a node, and they are categorized into two:
- Lightweight nodes are for the user’s ease of use.
- Full nodes are to fully enforce every Bitcoin rule.
Nodes vs. Miners
Although some people interchange these two, they are not the same.
Miners are a subgroup of nodes (computer) that verifies and adds transactions to the blockchain. On the other hand, there are nodes that just verify transactions and don’t add them to the blockchain.
To put it simply, all miners are nodes, but not all nodes are miners.
Nodes and Inputs
There’s only one input on some networks, while there are about two or more others.
For example, whenever you want to make toast, you get bread and place it inside the toaster. The bread toaster uses electricity to produce toasted bread. This network possesses these nodes: bread, toaster, electricity, and toasted bread.
For you to easily understand, a node is something in a network (system) that receives no less than one input and releases an output.
In Ethereum, Bitcoin, Monero, and other cryptocurrencies, the nodes are basically the computers that receive and record transaction details, then validate them. After that, they broadcast every output to other computers (nodes).
Blockchain Node
The nodes within the blockchain pertain to the network’s stakeholders or/their devices that are designed to safeguard a copy of the distributed ledger and act as a contact point that carries out different network functions.
A blockchain node is used to authenticate the legitimacy of every network transaction, namely blocks. Every single node possesses a distinctive identifier that makes it distinguishable from other nodes within the network.
Full nodes are responsible for keeping every single blockchain transaction in their device, as well as validating transactions and blocks.
On the other hand, lightweight, or light nodes, only require minimal storage because their work is to only download block headers that will be used in verifying transactions.
Checking the availability is also a way to classify a blockchain node.
For instance, an online node is designed to send updates all over the network. On the other hand, offline nodes are designed to download a copy of the ledger which was updated. Offline nodes reconnect to the network to make sure that the ledger is similar to every node out there.
Ethereum Nodes
Users are free to run various nodes in Ethereum, including archive, light, and full. These three differ from speed in terms of synchronizing with other networks.
In order to run an Etereum node, you will need compatible hardware that will work well with the networks such as DAppNode and Adavo. Before running your Ethereum node, you first need to check the limitations of your bandwidth.
Ethereum nodes essentially keep their network reliable, transparent, and secure. As a matter of fact, anyone would be able to see the nodes within the network through the help of the Etherscan node tracker.
If you want to acquire block rewards, you should run a staking node on Ethereum.
Bitcoin Nodes
Running a Bitcoin node is quite different from Bitcoin mining. There will be no rewards that can be acquired after running a node. The Bitcoin node is only used to permit Bitcoin (BTC) users to make transactions and get notifications whenever there’s an activity within their digital wallets.
To become a full-pledge full node runner, there are certain requirements that need to be met, such as downloading the entire blockchain. However, people now can run full nodes without having the need for enormous storage requirements.
To run a Bitcoin Core full node, you only need 7 GB, which is pretty low compared to the 350 GB of disk space way back.
How to Run a Node
There are numerous system requirements in order for you to become a node operator. You need to ensure that you have the correct setup of the node in order for it to be synchronized to the network it is designed to serve, as well as it needs to be completely functional.
There are various options to choose from on how you can run a node, but RaspiBlitz and Raspberry Pi are some of the good choices.
Every node is essential in keeping the operation of a network since they are the very heart of the network, which keeps every participant truthful and ensures the reliability of data.
After you have set up the software and equipment needed, you can begin immediately to run the node and synchronize it completely with the entire blockchain. You will be needing a lightning wallet in order to choose a route of payment.
Plenty of blockchain networks implement methods that are used to incentivize users to run full nodes by staking and mining. However, notwithstanding the incentives, there are users who, by choice, set up a full node because they completely believe in the future of the project. Hence, they want to back it up in any way they can.
Running a full node accommodates risks and high costs. Although there are several guides online which you can rely on, the process may be too complicated for non-tech-savvy individuals.
The procedure is too technical, and people who are not well-exposed to programming and blockchain might find it quite difficult to set up. But it all depends upon your willingness to put on your time and effort.
Ensure that you have to dig a little deeper about nodes before running it.
