I already have once written an article on what is a full node. I will quote this here.
]Full Node
If you understand what does it mean by the word "Full", you should probably have guessed now what is full node. Full node denotes to a wallet where the users have to have downloaded the whole blockchain. If we are talking about running a full node for bitcoin, you must have to have downloaded all the previous transaction list. We usually call it synchronization. You have to download the whole bitcoin transaction record from the beginning, block 1 to until the up to date block. It will probably require you to have more than 400 gb free space on your disk. If you are using a wallet which asks you to download all the block, you are running a full node.
Another easy definition of Full Node- https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.49814296If you understand what does it mean by the word "Full", you should probably have guessed now what is full node. Full node denotes to a wallet where the users have to have downloaded the whole blockchain. If we are talking about running a full node for bitcoin, you must have to have downloaded all the previous transaction list. We usually call it synchronization. You have to download the whole bitcoin transaction record from the beginning, block 1 to until the up to date block. It will probably require you to have more than 400 gb free space on your disk. If you are using a wallet which asks you to download all the block, you are running a full node.
Why should we use bitcoin full node?
Benefits are a lot, some are your personal benefits and some for the bitcoin network.
Personal Benefits:
1. You have the full control over your fund.
2. No intermediary.
3. You are trusting yourself, your funds are secured.
Benefits for bitcoin network:
1. Verifying bitcoin transactions, blocks and their height, hash etc.
2. More decentralized network.
3. Less or no chance of altering data.
This is one of the discussions from which I came to know about the benefits of running bitcoin full nodes- https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7n62qf/why_should_you_run_a_full_node/
Number of active full nodes right now- 10405* (Source- https://coin.dance/nodes)
Historic numbers of full bitcoin nodes since August 2015 (Range- 4 months)
Amount in Thousand
By observing the above graph, we can come to the conclusion that Bitcoin full nodes have been increasing significantly since last years. At the beginning of 2018, the change was notable. It's good for the network obviously and in the future, we can expect a huge growth of bitcoin full nodes.
My thoughts
I have decided to set up a full node for my personal benefits as well as helping the total community. What's your thought? I would love to hear.