Author: Brenton Camac 2013-04-30 20:06:12
Published on: 2013-04-30T20:06:12+00:00
A supporter has suggested that finding new ways to store and transmit Bitcoin blocks would make it less likely for Bitcoin to be shut down worldwide. Rebroad suggests an HTTP/HTTPS protocol for block downloading, which would allow web proxies to cache blocks and make them more accessible, as well as cater to resumeable downloads. However, Jeff Garzik, founder of exMULTI, states that while HTTP is fine, there are issues with large files, such as the need for a well-defined HTTP-retrievable layout with proper HTTP headers along the entire path, and features for resuming large, interrupted downloads. The format currently used by bitcoind would suffice, and adding a small metadata download and serving the raw block files would complete the solution. REST-based web APIs are a common feature of most online services these days, making writing other client services so much easier, and providing the benefit of the HTTP ecosystem for free, including HTTP caches.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T15:49:06.836297+00:00