If you have ever thought about having a node but have not done so because you think it is a waste of time and money, you should know what a pruned node or pruned node is.
The minds in the crypto space are not only great developers, cryptographers or mathematicians, they have also proven to be great gardeners. The idea of pruned nodes is an excellent example of this.
In short, a pruned node is a type of node that performs much of the functions of a full node, but does not possess a complete copy of the blockchain. Hence, the term “pruned node” or “pruned node”.
Pruned nodes simply maintain a fundamental part of the blockchain, using it to run verification processes as another complete node does.
But why were pruned nodes created? How does a pruned node work? How do I create my own pruned node? In this article we will try to solve these and other doubts.
Why were pruned nodes created?
Nodes are the foundation of a blockchain’s security as they host copies of the blockchain and help perform various tasks that are necessary for the network to function.
But they present a problem and that is that the more the size of the blockchain increases, the more the storage size required for the node increases.
This made it very difficult for people to run a node because of the disk space they had to support to get it up and running.
Imagine that, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain database weighed a few tens of megabytes and currently occupies approximately 300GB (and continues to grow with each passing minute).
All transactions in a decade hosted on a node that is updated all the time and keeps track of the first to the last transaction executed.
A pruned node is precisely an answer to this problem. These store only a part of the blockchain and this is a way to help more people to have their own node and thus increase the security of the network. Because the more copies of the blockchain there are, the more robust the existence of that blockchain is.
This image has no relation to a pruned node, but we were delighted to see it when we searched for “pruned” in Google Images.
How does a pruned node work?
Faced with this situation, pruned nodes were created, with which the blockchain can be downloaded to start the verification process and when the download is finished, a smaller part of it is simply stored. A process that certainly does not jeopardize the verification capacity of the node and that offers us the possibility of having a complete node to perform our operations in a more secure way.
Now, you are probably wondering if this situation can only be seen in Bitcoin. The reality is that all blockchains and even other technologies based on DAG and DLT have this same problem. For example, in Ethereum it is also possible to deploy pruned nodes , something especially useful if we take into account that its blockchain is growing by leaps and bounds compared to Bitcoin, already touching 5000 GB.
How to create our pruned node?
To create your own pruned node does not require too much technical knowledge and the easiest way to do it is by using the Bitcoin Core software.
This software has had this functionality since version 0.11 and is our recommended option in addition to Spesmilo’s ElectrumX.
It is important to note that a pruned node must have at least 2 gigabytes of storage for the blockchain copy. With this capacity you will be able to officiate as a verifier of a lot of information without great efforts.
