Author: Aymeric Vitte 2017-04-20 23:42:03
Published on: 2017-04-20T23:42:03+00:00
On the Bitcoin-dev mailing list, David Vorick proposed a new type of node called a "small node" which would store only 20% of the blockchain and use Reed-Solomon coding to erasure code blocks into 256 pieces that are 20% of the block's size each. Nodes would pick an index between 5 and 256, with indexes 0-4 reserved for archival nodes, and store the fragment corresponding to their index. When paired with any five unique fragments, the full block can be recovered. A small node would need to connect to peers totaling 5 unique indexes to begin blockchain download. Vorick believes that this new type of node would result in a non-trivial increase in the percentage of users running full nodes and a healthier overall network. However, the proposal requires a non-trivial amount of code to implement.
Updated on: 2023-06-12T00:19:26.662939+00:00