After pruning the monero blockchain, can I copy this pruned blockchain from the .bitmonero folder to another computer and just start syncing from there? What are some disadvantages of pruning the blockchain or where one might want the entire 71GB blockchain?
asked Jun 16, 2019 at 14:21
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1If you have two questions, post twice.– user36303Commented Nov 12, 2019 at 18:17
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2 Answers
After pruning the monero blockchain, can I copy this pruned blockchain from the .bitmonero folder to another computer and just start syncing from there?
Yes.
What are some disadvantages of pruning the blockchain...
This is a good question. Let's first take a step back and understand what happens with pruning. When your domain is fetching and validating blocks, after it's done, it can prune various data it is unlikely to need again. For example, once we have validated a txs signatures, we can discard them. To keep our node useful to the rest of the network, we maintain sections/slices of our blockchain unpruned. Therefore, if everyone has a pruned node, a new participant can still download and validate the whole blockchain - they'll just be grabbing separate sections (unpruned sections) of the blockchain from different peers.
I suppose the main disadvantage is less redundancy. Imagine someone in a rural location, poor internet connection etc. They ideally sync their whole blockchain from the nearest fastest full node, but, if the nearest/fasted peer is pruned, they are then reliant on using more distant, thus slower, peers.
...or where one might want the entire 71GB blockchain?
If disk space is not a concern, there is simply no need to prune. ~70GB is certainly not huge by todays standards - a lot of mobile phones have this space available even.
If you want to optimally help the rest of the network by providing the maximum redundancy, as detailed above.
I'm sure there are other reasons too, but those sprung to mind first.
answered Jun 16, 2019 at 18:27
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1Why can't everyone just run a pruned node if that data isn't really needed?– Patoshi パトシ ♦Commented Jun 17, 2019 at 14:43
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1Everyone could run a pruned node, but then there is a requirement on new users to sync from multiple sources. And to be clear, data is needed, it's just that much of it can be discarded after it's been checked/verified. Commented Jun 17, 2019 at 15:21
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@jtgrassie "but then there is a requirement on new users to sync from multiple sources." Isn't this already the case? Afaik, my node, when it is syncing the blockchain (BC) from scratch, connects to around 16 peers and pulls BC data from 4 or more peers at the same time.– xmrkrabsCommented Jun 5, 2023 at 11:35
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1@xmrkrabs if everyone is running a pruned node, there would be more sources (peers) needed. Put simply, a new entrant wouldn't be able to download and scan the blockchain from only 4 peers. Commented Jun 5, 2023 at 12:44
If and only if the two machines have the same endianness.
Make sure you copy the file while it is not being written to (ie, monerod is not running).
answered Nov 12, 2019 at 18:17
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even better, can the pruned node be copied to a USB stick? Commented Jun 6, 2023 at 3:02