From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (smtp1.linux-foundation.org [172.17.192.35]) by mail.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 15807949 for ; Thu, 10 May 2018 10:58:10 +0000 (UTC) X-Greylist: delayed 00:05:27 by SQLgrey-1.7.6 Received: from mail.boosthardware.com (boosthardware.com [138.201.186.201]) by smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7AC93683 for ; Thu, 10 May 2018 10:58:09 +0000 (UTC) Received: from boosthardware.com (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by mail.boosthardware.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 41FC380EE8 for ; Thu, 10 May 2018 12:52:40 +0200 (CEST) Received: from 109.103.113.193 (SquirrelMail authenticated user pshirkey@boosthardware.com) by boosthardware.com with HTTP; Thu, 10 May 2018 12:52:41 +0200 Message-ID: <0cc0a7249708ad26a7cbef702370b234.squirrel@boosthardware.com> In-Reply-To: References: Date: Thu, 10 May 2018 12:52:41 +0200 From: "Patrick Shirkey" To: "Bitcoin Protocol Discussion" User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.23 [SVN] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.3.1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on smtp1.linux-foundation.org X-Mailman-Approved-At: Thu, 10 May 2018 12:45:10 +0000 Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Why not archive the backend of Bitcoin blockchain? X-BeenThere: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12 Precedence: list List-Id: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 10 May 2018 10:58:10 -0000 > On 3/17/18, someone posted on the Lightning-dev list, "Can I try > Lightning without running a fully-fledged bitcoin block chain? (Yubin > Ruan)."  The inquirer was asking because he didn't have much space to > store the entire blockchain on his laptop. > > I replied: > > "Developers, > > On THIS note and slightly off-topic but relevant, why can't chunks of > blockchain peel off the backend periodically and be archived, say on > minimum of 150 computers across 7 continents? > > It seems crazy to continue adding on to an increasingly long chain to > infinity if the old chapters (i.e. more than, say, 2 years old) could be > stored in an evenly distributed manner across the planet. The same 150 > computers would not need to store every chapter either, just the index > would need to be widely distributed in order to reconnect with a chapter > if needed. Then maybe it is no longer a limitation in the future for > people like Yubin. " > > It was suggested by a couple of lightning developers that I post this > idea on the bitcoin-dev list.  So, here I post :). > You can already use the "prune" flag to get a snapshot of the blockchain but it is incompatible with "txindex" and "rescan" so maybe that is and issue for lightning nodes? -- Patrick Shirkey Boost Hardware