Blockchain nodes are crucial elements of the blockchain network, so understanding what a blockchain node is crucial for any blockchain enthusiast.
A blockchain is a decentralized ledger where all transactions are recorded in blocks, guided by a specific consensus mechanism. So, a node is a server computer that has the blockchain’s copy on it and is connected to all other nodes in the network.
The remote procedure call (RPC) service is a protocol that enables a program to request a procedure completion from another program. Therefore, it can be used by applications to request a node to execute a blockchain method, adding its functionalities to their services.
Here, we’ll see what a node is in crypto and overview various examples of how it can be used.
What is a node in cryptocurrency?
We have a short description of blockchain nodes and their work principles, but here, we’re diving much deeper. For any operations in crypto, understanding what is a node is essential, as they’re used for realizing all its methods, from simple transactions to smart contract executions.
To begin, let’s overview the blockchain structure in general and then see how different nodes support, validate, and deploy it.
What is a blockchain?
A blockchain is a distributed ledger, a database with all transactions recorded in blocks and then synchronized between computers called nodes. Small blockchains can have several nodes, while large ones, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, have thousands of them. To see how many nodes in the blockchain are present, one can use the public blockchain scan services, which usually present these statistics.
NB: To see more about public and private blockchains, see our comparison guide.
As all blockchain’s benefits follow from its node structure, let’s focus on it.
What is a crypto node?
A node is just a cloud computer with a blockchain installed on it. All blockchain’s uniqueness comes from the way these nodes are connected.
To understand what does node mean in cryptocurrency, imagine a chain mail. Each of its elements is intertwined with several others, so it’s almost impossible to tear out its rings without breaking the mail. The situation is similar to the blockchain network. It’s impossible to change it against the consensus mechanism without taking control over more than 50% of its nodes. Even for medium-size blockchains, this task is extremely difficult.
How does blockchain node work?
If imagining the blockchain as the chain mail, each node is a separate ring in the chain. Each of them performs specific functions, while together, they participate in verifying its transactions and storing its data securely.
Let’s look closer at what a node is in crypto and how it functions.
Nodes serve the blockchain
Every node performs a certain function in the chain. First, they ensure the network's stability and security, verifying and syncing its transactions. With adjustments, specific to each blockchain, they can also participate in the validation process, creating new blocks and ensuring its consensus mechanism. Lastly, using a remote procedure call (RPC) client, they can also connect with other programs, dApps, and systems, sending and receiving requests and ensuring their blockchain connection.
We’ll overview these types later, and now let’s see how nodes maintain the blockchain integrity.
Nodes verify blockchain transactions
To see what the crypto node is doing for blockchain safety, imagine a situation where a hacker obtains access to the blockchain node. After that, they can artificially mint tokens to enrich themselves or counterfeit transactions to steal money from other users’ wallets. However, unlike in centralized servers, each node is connected with all of its peers and synchronizes with them. Therefore, all changes will be wiped almost constantly and the consensus-based blockchain version will be restored.
That’s why we’ve mentioned the 50% rule. If hackers can gain access to over half of the nodes at once, they can try to change the consensus itself. This, in turn, may allow them to actually mint the coins they want or steal money from the blockchain’s participants. However, even in this case, the blockchain community can take measures, such as rebooting the network to restore the consensus.
That’s how the node structure maintains the blockchain safe for all public activities.
Blockchain nodes store data and ensure its transparency
Last, while the chain of interconnected nodes is very hard to hack into, it’s fully transparent and everyone can see what happens on the chain. Each blockchain has explorers and analytics tools, and different wallet addresses, transactions, and smart contracts can be found. While it’s easy to see how much funds are present on each wallet, it’s almost impossible to access them.
Still, while all public blockchain addresses are open, it’s very hard to reveal which physical person or organization owns them, if they haven’t disclosed it by themselves. Therefore, they are pseudonymous, ensuring that all fund movements and other social activities are transparent, while keeping users’ identities protected.
How many nodes can be part of the same blockchain?
There is no limit on how many nodes can participate in the blockchain in general. Theoretically, one full archive node is enough to power the entire blockchain, validate transactions, and realize all its methods, but it would be very vulnerable. Hacking it would be enough to seize the whole chain. So, at least several nodes are needed for realizing this technology’s potential, and the more nodes are deployed, the better.
Some blockchains may have limitations: for example, allowing only a limited number of validator nodes in the network.
How do blockchain nodes communicate?
We’ve already seen that the internode communication is crucial for blockchain maintenance, but how is it realized?
First, each blockchain has its own peer-to-peer communication protocol that ensures its internode connection. It means that its nodes exchange data constantly, ensuring they all store the same block data. It leads to robust integrity that is very hard to breach, as was already mentioned.
Let’s look at how different blockchains communicate with each other, and how they connect to external applications.
Interoperability protocols connect different chains, ensuring seamless transactions and contract executions between them. They also consist of nodes, which can receive data from different chains, interpret them, and send to each other. This ensures seamless token swap and other functions.
Lastly, to communicate with other applications, blockchains need remote procedure call (RPC) functionality. That’s what an RPC node is, a node that can exchange data with external decentralized applications (dApps) and realize blockchain methods in their activities. RPC nodes are needed for all blockchain developers, as that’s the primary tool for using the blockchain infrastructure in decentralized solutions.
Want to dive deeper? Check our marketplace for exciting Web3 projects!
Source: BitcoinWide
To summarize what cryptocurrency nodes are and how they communicate, we can distinguish three types of blockchain communication.
- Peer-to-peer communication is a high-speed data synchronization between all nodes in the same blockchain network.
- Cross-chain communication is realized between distinct blockchains. For example, it enables transactions between Ethereum and Solana. It requires the interoperability protocols that connect both blockchains and ensure that the former understands the methods of the latter, and vice versa.
- RPC-based communication is used when a distinct application needs to access blockchain functionality to realize its purpose, such as a crypto game or DeFi app.
Let’s now see which types of nodes can be deployed, and then dive deeper into different use cases.
What are the three different types of nodes in blockchain?
The three fundamental node types are full, archive, and light nodes. While there are many more of them, all other types are in fact extensions of these mentioned ones, expanding their functionality. For example, they can participate in validation using a specific software from blockchain’s developers or interact with other applications via the API.
Read more about other types in our node type guide.
Here, let’s focus on these three ones to see what a blockchain node is in general.
- The full node stores full blockchain data and synchronizes it with the network, validating it. It can be the pruned node, containing only essential historical data, or the archive node, which is described below.
- The archive node covers all transactions and other data recorded in the blockchain, so it can be used to store, check, and verify everything that happened in the blockchain from its very beginning.
- The light node contains only the latest blocks, which are updated as new transactions are recorded. It’s much lighter but relies on the network to synchronize and, therefore, cannot participate in validation.
Let’s now dive deeper and see what is a blockchain node of each type.
Full crypto node
The node that stores the current state of the blockchain and syncs it in real time is called a full node and can be used for handling all blockchain operations. When understanding what is a node in blockchain, this type may be highlighted as the primary one. It stores all primary data and synchronizes recent blocks, so it verifies transactions and can potentially become a validator.
Earlier, we’ve described what is an RPC node: it’s usually a modified full node, used to connect with external applications so they can use blockchain functionalities. With the RPC functionality, it can handle the app’s requests to run blockchain methods and return results to the application. All that is needed is an API’s URL, which is used to proceed with requests. At GetBlock, it can be obtained in the account’s dashboard, freeing developers from the necessity to run their own node.
A full node can be pruned, meaning that a part of the blockchain history will not be saved. Therefore, it must rely on other full nodes and archive nodes to verify it, but it’s still widely used, as it optimizes the node functionality greatly. By upgrading it with specific software provided by a blockchain developer, it can also serve as a validator node.
Archive crypto node
If a node user needs not just access the blockchain and participate in the network fully, but also explore its historical states for research and analytics purposes, an archive node is what they need. It stores all data from the genesis block to the current one, without any exception.
No wonder that archive nodes are extremely demanding in terms of disk space. For example, the full Ethereum archive node requires more than 15 TB of disk space, while for a simple full node, 1–3 TB is usually enough.
Light crypto node
A light node, also known as a lite node, has only the latest blocks recorded on it. Therefore, it requires much less disk space and computational capacities to operate in the blockchain network. However, it also must rely on full and archive nodes in all its operations, so in general, it’s much less secure.
Still, it’s more than enough for dApp developers who just want to connect their applications to the chain.
How to use crypto nodes?
For all actions that utilize blockchain functionalities, you need a blockchain node. To understand the interactions between full and light nodes, look at the diagram below.
Full nodes are connected together and hold the blockchain’s integrity, just like mail rings. Light nodes, in contrast, have no blockchain’s copies and are fully dependent on them, and can function only when syncing with full nodes. Along with that, validator nodes, be it mining or staking ones, maintain the consensus and produce new blocks where transactions can be recorded.
To dive deeper into what a cryptocurrency node is, let’s look closer at peculiarities of running own nodes.
What is running a node crypto?
As mentioned, a node is a computer running the blockchain’s transaction history, either full, pruned, or limited to the latest blocks. In addition, it must run 24/7, meaning that a stable Internet connection with a high bandwidth is essential. Therefore, it’s not enough to understand what a node is in a blockchain: it’s also important to have hardware powerful enough and be proficient in the blockchain’s software.
How to create a node crypto?
Before creating a node, one should set up a workstation and download the blockchain on it. It’s important to check the official blockchain requirements for disk space and other hardware. For different chains, they may differ, but usually, they’re high:
- About 1–4 TB of disk space.
- The CPU equivalent of an Intel i5 or higher.
- At least 64 GB of RAM.
- The 1 Gbps or higher Internet connection bandwidth.
That’s where you should begin. The algorithm of installing the blockchain is different for each blockchain and must be learned on its official documentation. Still, it usually contains three basic steps.
- Access the official blockchain’s website, explore its documentation, and download the full node.
- Configure the workstation ports according to the documentation, so your node may synchronize with others.
- Download the official full node client and configure it to optimize data usage, so you have enough disk space and RAM/CPU resources.
If you want to become a validator, you must also download the specific software provided by the blockchain developers and stake some amount of its native token. Requirements may be different for different chains. In some, the validators’ number is limited, while others have the minimum requirements for funds that must be deposited. For each successful validation, a validator is rewarded, while for the attempt to manipulate the consensus, they are penalized by fines.
How to run a crypto node?
Even after meeting all hardware requirements, installing, and setting up the node, it’s important to be aware of how it’s running. Watch how it manages data, check free space, and track metrics provided by your full node clients. It’s also essential to watch all network updates and upgrades, ensuring they’re handled by your node properly. If you’re a network validator, consensus compliance is especially important. In case of not complying, a validator risks losing a part of its funds.
That’s why node providers are becoming more and more popular: users can focus on their projects without losing time and money for running their nodes. We suggest you to run your own node only if you really want to participate in the network operations, make a deep study, or become a validator. In other cases, purchasing a node that suits you best is more than enough.
What is a node sale in crypto?
Some blockchain-based organizations raise funds in quite a specific way. Instead of selling and distributing their tokens, they sell the right to run a node in the network, so an investor becomes the owner of the network’s share. By running the node, they can earn regular rewards, so if a network becomes profitable and solves some important market demands, investors get a part of its revenues.
Conclusion: What are blockchain nodes
Now, one can see what a node is in cryptocurrency. It’s a computer that runs the blockchain client protocol and stores the history of its transactions, either full or pruned, which is updated regularly. The client ensures the node connection with all other nodes running a similar software. This connection leads to 24/7 synchronization between all nodes, verifying transactions and ensuring full compliance with the blockchain’s consensus mechanism.
With the usage of RPC infrastructure, nodes can also connect with external applications, so they can use blockchain methods in their services and functionalities. Running a node or purchasing one is highly beneficial for Web3 developers, crypto traders, and token creators.
Blockchain nodes are needed for all activities, from development to trading. While running your node is beneficial for the blockchain and gives you a robust infrastructure, it’s extremely time- and cost-consuming. To help you handle that, GetBlock offers secure and efficient shared nodes, where you pay only for the number of requests you make. And if you still need your own infrastructure, purchase a dedicated node or a node cluster. Sign up now, purchase a shared node, and save 30% for your first month!
