Blockchain Nodes And Their Types

Blockchains are decentralized, immutable, digital ledgers shared across a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) network and we all are gathered here to catch all the buzz in the blockchain world. Today, I am going to curate content on one of the most significant concepts of blockchain technology i.e, Blockchain Nodes. In this article today, we will learn what are Blockchain Nodes and their respective types in detail. But before that, don't forget to check out my previous article here which was also quite a crucial concept that is "Blockchain Layers and Protocols: Architecture Simplified."?So let's get back to our today's topic and learn all about Blockchain Nodes.?

What are Blockchain Nodes?

In the world of technology, we have always known "nodes" as a point of connection in a telecommunication network or a physical device connected to a network capable of sending, receiving, and sharing data on a given channel. In the context of Blockchain, we can understand a node as a moderator, a device, or a network stakeholder responsible for managing the distributed ledger network and acting as a communication hub.?

These nodes are authorized to validate the legality of a transaction and carry a unique identifier to uniquely distinguish them from one another. It is also vital to note that "full nodes" are responsible for storing all the information of the given network.?In simple words, a node is a physical electronic device that keeps copies of the network chains that are formed by the encrypted data stored in the chain of blocks.?

Purpose of Blockchain Nodes?

The two main purposes of the Blockchain Node are network credibility and data integrity. Nodes carry the complete copy of the network transaction and also developers use it to develop decentralized applications. In fact, Blockchain Nodes can play infinite types of roles based on the type of the given blockchain network. But the primary roles of Blockchain nodes are as follows:

• It manages the transactions of a blockchain network and ensures the validity of the same.?
• It acts as a communication channel for the blockchain network.?
• It keeps track of the information stored on the cryptographically linked blocks.?
• They can be used to access the information stored on the given network.?
• Different types of nodes are used to validate the transactions.?
• It also helps to maintain and grow the blockchain network.?

How do Blockchain Nodes Work?

Before moving on to the types of Blockchain Nodes, we should understand how they work. A Blockchain network is a series of blocks that are similar to small servers that are used to ensure that network transactions are valid.?Whenever a user sends a request, a node receives it and broadcasts it across the network.?After that, the transaction is evaluated by all the network nodes and once the transaction is validated the node adds it to the newest block which then adds to the chain. That's how the node plays a crucial role in the expansion of the network.?

Types of Blockchain Nodes

Till now, we understood what are Blockchian Nodes and how they work. Now let's hop on to the types of Blockchain Nodes. Here's goes the list below.?

1. Full Node: As mentioned earlier, full nodes act as a server by keeping a copy of the blockchain network and they maintain the consensus on the blockchain. Many consensus mechanisms such as Proof of Work and Proof of Stake make use of full nodes to achieve consensus. We can say that they are responsible for the governance of the given blockchain network.?
2. Archival Full Node: Archival Full Nodes are one of the most common Blockchain nodes and store the entire database of the network without having a storage limit. Although it has all the capabilities of a full node, it keeps a historical state of the record, also called archives.??
3. Pruned Full Nodes: Pruned Full Nodes nearly carry out all the functionalities of the Full Node but the only difference between the two is that it doesn't keep the entire copy of the blockchain. Such types of nodes have defined storage space and store data by pruning the older blocks. It simply means that these nodes first download the entire blockchain from the start, delete blocks (oldest) and start over the process by retaining the most recent transactions up to a certain size limit.??
4. Minor Nodes: As its name suggests, such types of nodes are specifically involved in the mining process and form an integral part of the blockchain using the Proof of Work consensus model. Minor nodes solve complex mathematical problems to approve blockchain transactions and are rewarded newly minted tokens as an incentive after solving a problem & adding a block of the transaction to the blockchain.?
5. Authority Nodes: Now comes the Authority Nodes that are added by an organization with the purpose to regulate the new blocks joining the network. The partially decentralized consensus mechanisms such as Delegated Proof of Stake and Proof of Authority make use of such nodes. They can also be used to authorize other nodes' access permission as per given requirements.?
6. Light Nodes: Light Nodes ate not used for the validation of the blockchain network but only store and download the block headers. It is known to be the second most common blockchain node and is used for faster transactions and regular activities. As they don't download the complete blockchain, they are dependent on full nodes to function.?
7. Lightning Nodes: Lightning Nodes connect the main Blockchain Network with the Lightning Network. With the increase in the number of users on the network, delayed transactions become prominent and that's when such nodes play a vital role by reducing the latency and eventually the load on the network.??
8. Masternodes: Masternodes are full nodes that can't add new blocks to the network but are way more powerful than regular nodes. They can carry out other events of the network such as managing voting events, enforcing rules of the blockchain, and executing protocols.??
9. Super Nodes: Super Nodes are less common Blockchain Nodes and are used to perform specialized tasks. Such nodes are created on demand to perform special tasks such as implementing blockchain protocols, maintaining the rules of the blockchain, etc.??
10. Staking Nodes: Staking Nodes are a type of node that makes use of the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism to authorize the validity of the transaction. Such nodes can be made up of a single user or a staking pool and they make use of a process called "staking". Moreover, Staking happens when such nodes lock up cryptocurrency funds as collateral.?

Summing Up

In this article, we learn what are Blockchain Nodes, their purpose, along with their types in detail. That was our wrap on the concept of Blockchain Nodes. Nodes are quite critical to the operation of Blockchain networks and are essential to building cost-effective and faster-decentralized applications (dApps).?