Litecoin is one of the prominent tokens in the crypto market coveted by many prominent investors. The main reason behind this demand for the coin can be attributed to its security and stability, which the currency achieves due to the various nodes in its blockchain network. By successfully running these nodes, you can play an integral role in supporting the entire LTC network. In this article, we will look into the LTC coin, the nodes that support its network, and how you can easily set it up on your system.
Litecoin & Its Features
Litecoin is a crypto coin launched on the 13th of October, 2011 by Charlie Lee through a fork in the original cryptocurrency. It was initially launched with the aim of bringing decentralization into the mining industry. This was mainly to prevent the large-scale miners from taking complete control of the mining industry. Most of the functions exhibited by the LTC are similar in nature to that of BTC’s but the underlying algorithm differs.
The objective of LTC has changed dramatically since then. Now, it is currently looking to integrate itself into the financial sectors and to become a key player in the day-to-day transactions. Also, the LTC is swifter and more efficient than its predecessor and can process up to 50 transactions per second. Additionally, the LTC blockchain makes use of a script hashing algorithm to convert data into hexadecimal format.
Litecoin Nodes: A Brief Overview
A Litecoin node is a computer or system that runs the LTC software and participates in various activities associated with the Litecoin network. It also plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the chain, validating transactions, and also helping in various other security-related activities of the Litecoin ecosystem. There are mainly two types of Litecoin nodes, full node and super node.
- Full Node: A full node is a node that stores the complete copy of the Litecoin blockchain. It allows users to have full control over their funds, validate transactions, and relay data and information to other nodes of the LTC network.
- Super Node: A supernode is a device that constantly runs a Litecoin Core Client. It is similar in nature to that of the Bitcoin full node. Like the full nodes, it validates transactions and relays data to other nodes. Apart from that, it also supports lightweight clients and ensures decentralization in the network by ensuring enough full nodes in the LTC ecosystem.
Running an LTC node in your system allows you to be an active participant in the Litecoin network.
Requirements For Running A Litecoin Node
| Properties | Requirements |
|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB or more |
| HD Storage | 90 GB of hard disk storage or more |
| IP Address | Minimum one standard IPV4 address |
| OS | Windows or Linux recommended |
| Network Bandwidth | A generous bandwidth allocation is needed |
How To Set Up A Litecoin Node: A Step-By-Step Guide
Setting up a Litecoin node in your system consists of a series of seven steps. Here, is a step-by-step guide on how you can easily set up a node on your PC.
- Step 1: Get a dedicated VPS and establish a connection to it.
- Step 2: Install the required software and packages after setting up your virtual private server (VPS).
- Step 3: Download the Litecoin core software and compile it.
- Step 4: Create a new user account to run the Litecoin node.
- Step 5: Now, configure the Litecoin software and run it.
- Step 6: Make sure the LTC nodes restart automatically in case of a system crash or server reboot.
- Step 7: Monitor your node as it syncs with the official LTC network.
Packages Required For Running The LTC Node
- Git
- build-essential
- libtool
- autotools-dev
- automake
- pkg-config
- libssl-dev
- libevent-dev
- bsdmainutils
- libboost-all-dev
- libdb-dev
- libdb++-dev
Pros & Cons of Having Your Own Node
Having a dedicated node on your own has its set of benefits and drawbacks associated with it. Here, we will look into a few of them, so that you can know what exactly you’re getting into by turning your device into a network node.
Pros
- Censorship: Having a dedicated node to yourself ensures seamless transactions unlike normal times, where the providers can block off your transaction sometimes.
- Privacy & Security: People can use their own nodes to conduct transactions to ensure autonomy and isolation.
- Sovereignty: Users who run their own nodes have full control over their software clients, how these client nodes are configured, and other hardware-software specifications.
- Decentralization: You have complete control over all the transactions you make.
Cons
- Maintenance Cost: Running a full node-specific hardware and software. Maintaining them effectively can be costly at times.
- Reliability Cost: Many hassles like software updates, CPU spikes, memory leaks, and disk issues can arise anytime. In such cases, the network will likely take down your node.
- Time: Running and maintaining your own node is a time-consuming process, especially for beginners.
Final Remarks
Running a Litecoin node on your device can help you strengthen the network greatly. This is mainly because of the increased number of nodes that verify and validate the transactions in the network. It can also help in ensuring the reliability and security of the network, which can also greatly benefit you as well. In essence, you can contribute a lot to the network you part of.
However, if you’re planning to run your own node, there are also considerable catches like maintenance and other related costs. So, keep in mind all of this before turning your system into a node as it is a major transition that can’t be reversed easily. For further information regarding blockchain technology and its associated features, stay tuned.
