reply on: Why aren't you running a node yet? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

0 sats \ 14 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct \ parent \ on: Why aren't you running a node yet? bitcoin

If I wanted to run on a PC, how much does that PC need to be up and running?

For a bitcoin node you could leave it running for a few hours or days at the start to download the blockchain. After that you can shut it down as desired and every time you reopen it bitcoin core will download the blocks you missed which shouldn't take long as long as you open the computer every few days. Lightning nodes need to be online as much as possible.

11 sats \ 11 replies \ @Cje95 24 Oct

It seems like it would take up a ton of space does it not?

11 sats \ 6 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

The blockchain is 693 GB right now but you can run a pruned node if space is a limited. A pruned node still downloads and verifies all blocks but deletes them past one that increase beyond a certain threshold that you can set base on your needs. All newer computers have more than enough space to run a pruned node.

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

How small can a pruned node be?

11 sats \ 4 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

Last I remember you can prune the blockchain down to 550 mb, but you still have to store the utxo set which is maybe 10 to 15 GB. Looking at your other comment a 256 GB ssd would be plenty.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Oh wow. that isn't big at all. Good to know. If I have issues with my pi, I might try that out.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 24 Oct

You could also store the blockchain data on an external ssd.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

Great post by the way. I hope more people learn running a bitcoin node is not difficult and you don't need to be technical to do it. And relying on a third party to get your block chain information is less than ideal for lots of reasons.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

It seems really important. I am excited to get up and running. It's funny. I have been mining regularly for a few years now. Even though, I am quite uneducated on Bitcoin in general.

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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

I think right now it is less than 700 GB. Depends on what is a lot for you. Storage is quite cheap now. Unless you mean physical space.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 24 Oct

I mean my laptop doesn’t have 700 GB of storage 😂

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

@ChrisS says you can prune it down to under 20gb or so.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

My Mac only has 256 gb. They charge so much for storage so.i went with a smaller size. Kind of annoying..

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Good to know. I am off-grid so sometimes the power goes down and I can't run a PC 24/7.