Topic: Why do you need to download 7 years of chain block - page 4. (Read 9128 times)
Eventually they need to find some way to better compress the chain would be nice for a start.
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
You do not. Problem is that you have a wrong mindset. You say
Quote
wasted disk space
It the same as saying: Why bank vaults need all these security? Just buy a garden shed and put all your valuables in it. Why waste all steel, concrete ect.?
You download the entire blockchain to check for yourself that:
1. nobody created more bitcoins than are allowed
2. that nobody spent a bitcoin not belonging to them
3. that all the other rules of bitcoin were followed. (e.g. difficulty)
1. nobody created more bitcoins than are allowed
2. that nobody spent a bitcoin not belonging to them
3. that all the other rules of bitcoin were followed. (e.g. difficulty)
Well, I look at linux as an example of decentralized system. poeple download it online. I doesn't have 1 or 2 servers but houndreds of independent mirror servers and you can download it from any of them. or is it a bad example?
Also, I might not grasp the subject fully, but where is the blockchain downloaded from?
Your example is pretty much what Electrum and other SPV wallets do... it allows you to just connect to one of these "mirrors" and get the bits important to you... ie. the inbound and outbound transactions on your wallet.Also, I might not grasp the subject fully, but where is the blockchain downloaded from?
Effectively, these SPV systems are "thin clients" onto the Blockchain... connecting to compatible "full nodes" that have the full blockchain. Unsurprisingly, one of the main reasons they came into being is for the very reason you are posting... that is, the storage requirements of the blockchain
It also helps with mobility. Can you imagine putting the full blockchain on a mobile device?
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
The entire purpose of downloading the entire blockchain is to independently verify it and allow for the independent verification of every single block and transaction that occurs later. The only thing that a full node needs to "trust" is the genesis block, the very first block of the blockchain. This is actually hard coded into the software so that there is a defined starting point. After that, the node downloads all of the blocks from its peers. It will check each transaction in the block, and then check the block to ensure that it is valid. Because each block is chained together and transactions are also chained together, it is not possible to start from any point in the blockchain other than the beginning and still maintain trustlessness. 
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
That's just the basic concept of bitcoin, it's a decentralised ledger, no authority, no banks... All users can (and should) download the full blockchain. If you would use 1 or 2 centralised servers, it wouldn't be a decentralised system
Well, I look at linux as an example of decentralized system. poeple download it online. I doesn't have 1 or 2 servers but houndreds of independent mirror servers and you can download it from any of them. or is it a bad example?
Also, I might not grasp the subject fully, but where is the blockchain downloaded from?
Hi,
I edited my previous post, but apparently you already quoted it before i saved my edits (i was a bit to slow
) .To answer these questions:
Question 1: the example of comparing bitcoin to linux is not a very good one, that being said, you can actually use an SPV client (like i mentioned above).
This client will connect to a central server that has has been synched. Those SPV clients will only manage your private keys, labels and adresbook. That way you have most of the security of a desktop wallet without having to download all blocks.
Question 2: The blockchain is downloaded from other peers, but not from a centralised server.
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
That's just the basic concept of bitcoin, it's a decentralised ledger, no authority, no banks... All users can (and should) download the full blockchain. If you would use 1 or 2 centralised servers, it wouldn't be a decentralised system
Well, I look at linux as an example of decentralized system. poeple download it online. I doesn't have 1 or 2 servers but houndreds of independent mirror servers and you can download it from any of them. or is it a bad example?
Also, I might not grasp the subject fully, but where is the blockchain downloaded from?
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
That's just the basic concept of bitcoin, it's a decentralised ledger, no authority, no banks... All users can (and should) download the full blockchain. If you would use 1 or 2 centralised servers, it wouldn't be a decentralised system
That being said, there are alternatives... If the synchronisation of the blockchain is to much for you: you can use an SPV client.
Examples are: electrum and multibit HD
ok, so I installed bitcoin core latest version and it downloaded over 80G of chain block. Let's assume, just for the fun of it, there are 1000 bitcoin core users out there. That's ~8T of wasted disk space. and considering bitcoin will live another 7 years and it will grow of couse, that's like ~20T of disk space (1000 users remember?) for what? couldn't be a centerlaize, maybe mirrored, location that the client will ask for the chain block from there? Why do we need to download it?
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