mimblewimble/grin

Full chain archive sync at protocol level

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#3092 opened on Oct 8, 2019

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 (10 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (4,876 stars) (991 forks)batch import
enhancementhelp wantedresearch

Description

The fact that there is no trustless, permissionless method of full blockchain archive sync creates an unfair data disparity of valuable information. At the very least, this creates a barrier if entry to building blockchain tools. At the very worst, this data has value that can be used to the benefit or detriment of users.

Describe the solution you'd like Archive nodes should have to opt-out of sharing rather than opt-in. As in only archive nodes not participating in outgoing communications should be able to avoid sharing their blocks. Maybe refusal to share archive blocks should result in protocol level blacklisting of the node and all archive syncs should be reconciled to the largest dataset so all archive nodes have the same data.

Describe alternatives you've considered Until there is time/bandwidth to code this a full archive snapshot could be hosted by grin or grin community members.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
blockchain
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
5
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Grin protocol knowledgeRust programmingBlockchain node synchronization
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
15
Research direction
Examine the Grin p2p networking code (e.g., in src/p2p/) and the archive sync logic. Identify where nodes currently decide to share blocks and how to implement a default share policy. Consider adding protocol level blacklisting for nodes that refuse to share archive blocks. Review the 10 comments on this issue for any additional context or proposed approaches.