Nodes in Ethereum

A simple definition of an Ethereum node is —

Any instance of the Ethereum client software that is linked to other computers running the same software, establishing a network, is referred to as a “node.”

In simple words,

Nodes are just connection points in a network. Nodes are devices or data points on a large network, devices such as PC, phones, etc.

Types of nodes

Full node: maintains and stores the entire blockchain’s data.

• It responds to requests for blockchain data.
• Locally store copies of the blockchain.
• Participates in block validation.
• Supports the network by confirming all blocks and states.
• It is the source of all states. It verifies and validates the block.

Archive Node: A full node’s capabilities are inherited by an archive node, which creates a database of previous states.

• When requesting historical blockchain data that is inaccessible on full nodes, this kind of node is helpful.
• We can query an archive node if we require block data older than the most recent blocks (recent blocks are available on the full node).
• Stores everything kept in the full node and built an archive of historical data.
• Require terabytes of disk space.

Light node: These are low-cost Ethereum nodes that simply download the minimal amount of information required to conduct transactions on the Ethereum network. It stores only the block header ( for example, the index of a notebook).

• It depends on full node. Requests full node for data of any required entity / block.
• These are low capacity devices which can not afford to store the gigabytes of data.