Author: Jim Posen 2018-05-10 06:50:43
Published on: 2018-05-10T06:50:43+00:00
The historical data of Bitcoin does not need to be kept around, and in fact, Bitcoin Core can operate in a pruned mode where most of the historical block data is discarded and only the current UTXO set and a few recent blocks are kept. However, some nodes on the network do need to run in archive mode to help new nodes get in sync. BIP 159 helps identify these archive nodes at the gossip layer. In regards to Lightning, some implementations made use of the additional txindex, which is not compatible with pruned mode. A suggestion was made by Segue on the Lightning-dev list that chunks of blockchain could peel off the backend periodically and be archived on a minimum of 150 computers across 7 continents to avoid adding onto an increasingly long chain to infinity. This would allow for outdated data to be stored in an evenly distributed manner across the planet, and a widely distributed index would be needed to reconnect with a chapter if needed. The idea was then posted on the bitcoin-dev list for further discussion.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T02:11:58.354025+00:00