Blockchain Node Provider — What is it? And why you need it?
Introduction
Welcome back to WatchData blog!
In this article we want to explain to you what a Node Provider is, what its advantages are, and how such services can be useful for you.
We want to start with a brief introduction to the market. Blockchain has been around for a decade, but only in the last few years have people begun to realize its potential and implement it in areas such as finance, advertising, utilities, healthcare, etc. Experts predict that Blockchain Market could be worth $10.6 billion by 2023. There is a growing market demand for both the products and the teams that make those products.
The main problem in this area is that not everyone has the resources or expertise required to create their own blockchain-based product or service from scratch. This is where Node Providers come into play — they help companies build innovative solutions on top of existing blockchains
What is required for application development?
Building a blockchain product is no easy feat, but if you’re ready to start building your project, it’s important to understand what a node is and how it works. A node is essentially a program running on one computer that connects to other nodes in order to send information back and forth, verify the validity of transactions sent between people, and store important information about the state of the blockchain. These nodes work together to ensure that nothing can go wrong with your transaction — even if one node goes offline or malfunctions!
Blockchain is a type of database that is distributed across multiple nodes, or computers. It is important to note that blockchain is not a database in the traditional sense, but rather a new kind of database. This means that instead of having one main server or single source of truth (like you would find with most traditional databases), there are many different nodes that hold pieces of this decentralized network’s information.
A node can be thought of as a browser for the blockchain — it allows users to access information on the blockchain without relying on any kind of central authority (like you would with traditional databases). The node is a crucial part of any dApp. It allows you to modify the blockchain and get the latest up-to-date data. Without this feature, you won’t be able to create your app!
Why is it difficult to work with your own node?
Running a node is a lot of work. It can take weeks, and then you have to keep it going. If you’re not careful, you may end up spending more time maintaining your node than actually using it.
There are several reasons why this happens:
- Setting up a node takes a long time. It’s not uncommon for it to take up to two weeks to get everything set up and running properly.
- Once you’ve finished setting up your node, you’ll need to keep an eye on it in order for it to work properly. Nodes usually require constant maintenance because they’re often running on machines that aren’t very powerful or reliable.
- There are many different types of nodes out there so if something goes wrong with one type of node, there’s no guarantee that another type will work better for you — you could end up having to start over again!
- Automatic load scaling. If your application starts consuming more resources while working with a node provider, you won’t notice any deviations.
This is only part of the problems you will face, let’s look at them in more detail.
Running a node
Setting up a blockchain node can be a pain. 🤬
If you’re like me, you just want to get down to business and start developing without having to spend all your time setting up tools that don’t directly contribute to what you’re trying to do. Nodes are one of the worst offenders when it comes to this problem.
There are usually two main categories of nodes: light nodes and full nodes. Light nodes only synchronize block headers and requests from full nodes for many requests, while full nodes store the entire state of the blockchain — every transaction that has ever been created. Most queries work with light nodes, but full nodes are the backbone of the blockchain-they are needed to serve most information.
Lightweight nodes have become relatively simpler, but still require installing the node program, setting up configuration variables, loading block headers and checking ports and state to make sure they work correctly.
A full node is a computer that stores every block from 0 to the last one ever submitted, and every transaction ever submitted by anyone. That means the full node needs to load every block from 0 to the last one from scratch and manually reproduce every block — and every transaction — ever submitted by anyone. For Ethereum mainnet this is over 10 million blocks, and on the order of billions of transactions. This can literally take weeks of synchronization time!
Analyzing node clients and determining server requirements.
You will have to do your own analysis and spend a lot of time chatting in forums to find out which node client suits you best.
After you determine with the client, you also need to spend your time to find and pay for servers. Which can also be a slow process.
Node management
Many people don’t realize that you need to manage your nodes — and that’s not just for fun!
Nodes regularly need to be updated every few weeks, and in the case of hard fork and node client upgrades, they sometimes have to be built from scratch. Since most nodes were not designed with reliability in mind, some requests (like eth_getLogs) can involve millions of blocks and transactions, and often cause a node to time out or crash. So you have to keep a close eye on the health of your node. For example you may run out of disk space and have to buy more space. During such procedures the node stops and it becomes inaccessible. Among other things, nodes can lag behind for various reasons — peering and connection problems, getting stuck on forks, internal state problems. If they are lagging, your users will receive outdated and sometimes incorrect data, but do not realize it.
Scaling solutions
As you have already noticed in our article, a node is a server that processes transactions and interacts with other nodes in the network. But do you know what happens when you can’t make your node server big enough to handle the requests you send it? Believe me, you will need 100% availability of your node.
You might assume that running two or more nodes and putting a load balancer between them might be the solution to all your problems. Yes, that’s true, but it’s very hard to maintain. Different nodes see the last state of the blockchain differently. This can lead to problems on the user side!
You have several nodes, they can sync individually and the balancer distributes traffic between them. So, 1-st node may think the last block is X, 2-nd node thinks the last block is Y. This is a perfectly normal situation — since the latest information spreads slowly through the network, some nodes will always be ahead of others.
Sounds like having your own node is difficult, expensive, and not always necessary?
Absolutely right! In such cases, your problems with node support are solved by node providers.
Node providers can help you in many ways:
- When you want to launch a new product on the market, but you’re not sure about how to choose the right node provider.
- When you need assistance in managing projects and teams of developers.
- When you want to find a partner who will help you build a scalable platform for your business.
With node providers, you can send your requests to a remote server that offers an identical API as any other node on the blockchain. That way, rather than having to maintain your own node and keep it up-to-date, you can just use someone else’s!
Once you’ve deployed your application on a live chain, the node provider becomes an important part of your workflow. They make it possible for you to access information on the blockchain without running a full node yourself — and they make sure that all of their nodes are fully synchronized with each other so that they’re always up-to-date and available 24/7.
A reliable node provider must provide the following services:
- High stability. Without high stability, you won’t be able to build your applications.
- Constant access to nodes. Nodes must be current and updated so that the user does not have to worry about forks or any other changes in the network.
- Access to historical data so that you can add any history of blockchain interactions to your app.
- Reliability and trustworthiness of data — you must broadcast only reliable and correct information to your customers, otherwise you could lose them!
- Automatic load scaling — if your application starts consuming more resources while working with a node provider, you won’t notice any deviations!
When you get to the point where your application is interacting with the blockchain, it is likely that the application will need to keep receiving information about the blockchain in order to update its internal state. This information also goes through a node or node provider.
If you are already using a node provider like WatchData, then you can save a lot of time and money by continuing to use them. For example, if you are using WatchData’s Blockchain API, then when you need to know something about the blockchain — such as whether or not an address has received any funds — all you have to do is call their API from your application and they’ll return the information for you.
This means not having to run any additional software on your own computer (like a full node) just so that your application can stay up-to-date with what’s happening on the blockchain.
On our platform you can find products such as:
With WatchData’s API, you can get to Raw blockchain data: balances, transactions, blocks, tokens transfers, logs, and others. No need to run your own node! Spare yourself from development costs and associated expenses. Call most JSON-RPC methods via our API in the same way as sending to an own node.
Let’s look at a few examples of interactions with our API:
One of the most common endpoints is — eth_blockNumber
Request example:
URL: <https://ethereum.api.watchdata.io/node/jsonrpc?api_key=your_api_key>
RequestType: POST
Body:
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_blockNumber",
"params":[],
"id":0
}Response example:
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 0,
"result": "0xa1c054"
}As you can see from the example, we just changed the endpoint! No other changes are required. Try it yourself!
Let’s try an endpoint that changes the blockchain
Request example:
URL: <https://ethereum.api.watchdata.io/node/jsonrpc?api_key=your_api_key>
RequestType: POST
Body:
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_sendRawTransaction",
"params":["0xd46e8dd67c5d32be8d46e8dd67c5d32be8058bb8eb970870f072445675058bb8eb970870f072445675"],
"id":1
}Response example:
{
"id":1,
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"result": "0xe670ec64341771606e55d6b4ca35a1a6b75ee3d5145a99d05921026d1527331"
}Through our APIs we provide access to various blockchains. Learn more about the Blockchain API in our documentation
Powered API is a kind of additional functionality for interaction with the node. We took the work over the blockchain and transformed the data in a clear and structured format. You, as a user, will get a ready set of data, which carries a huge amount of information. Let us explain it to you more clearly: What if you want to find all transactions made by one ETH address? While that may be easy in an SQL database, in blockchain it’s exorbitantly complicated — you practically have to scan every transaction in the blockchain (again, billions in the ETH network!) to see if it includes a single address. We’ve created some advanced APIs that allow you to instantly perform this and other similar queries. We believe Powered API will help you save time and money on your projects while giving them more power!
For cases like this, try watch_getTransfersByAddress
Request example:
URL: <https://ethereum.api.watchdata.io/node/jsonrpc?api_key=your_api_key>
RequestType: POST
Body:
{
"id": 1,
"method": "watch_getTransfersByAddress",
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"params": [
{
"addresses": "0x6a73eb4e8EA2068ec539D2f0D15d757766E247E4",
"contractAddresses": "native",
"transferDirection": "from",
"fromBlock": 14046400,
"toBlock": "latest",
"offset": 0,
"limit": 10
}
]
}Response example
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 1,
"result": [
{
"blockNumber": 14133136,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-03T12:58:13",
"transactionHash": "0x7b778a9135fd37703c089f7dd9e4f54e165b6c5334de5f9e125635682022447a",
"transactionIndex": 10,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xd9e1ce17f2641f24ae83637ab66a2cca9c378b9f",
"value": 230000000000000000,
"fee": 10275082740798368,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14133182,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-03T13:06:15",
"transactionHash": "0x66d768ff5482909b9ef2a72b9d701568216070ab760b1f53382b30740a023072",
"transactionIndex": 312,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xe6cd4727a1058e6973e973986d0493f1e7975ef8",
"value": 11682235338506250,
"fee": 22314053230899568,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145122,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T09:14:55",
"transactionHash": "0x2b89ac24371d7938728b365cdc56140321095e23d4a47e4ea58d7d357d1642cc",
"transactionIndex": 196,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xd9e1ce17f2641f24ae83637ab66a2cca9c378b9f",
"value": 115498399326596663,
"fee": 5267950395018750,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145138,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T09:19:35",
"transactionHash": "0xeb97ff4306efe3ef9c95229b9ac34e6b441c79ae265a4ad5d0be807a3ac084e3",
"transactionIndex": 115,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xe6cd4727a1058e6973e973986d0493f1e7975ef8",
"value": 5720494316456640,
"fee": 16532150415218226,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145167,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T09:25:33",
"transactionHash": "0x8efc515d6d6440dc02f938b93162762c73e1fd1b24b8cbe70bf0929a3e21e72d",
"transactionIndex": 325,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xa5409ec958c83c3f309868babaca7c86dcb077c1",
"value": 0,
"fee": 22320578599734744,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145175,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T09:27:08",
"transactionHash": "0x1ff0025dc6fe1408b42b8655ff05de4158e5a8a94478a7517873cd79994f9883",
"transactionIndex": 560,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xc71a726d390bf02b4af8920c0820970310d0f367",
"value": 0,
"fee": 2760413994607680,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145253,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T09:45:32",
"transactionHash": "0x226847bb385b2600cfc9bae11dc207a5a397a757cee5aab6380e40148463d508",
"transactionIndex": 158,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xef8c662114494e2c7999e5deab46c25ebd2c7e68",
"value": 0,
"fee": 2622120687456424,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145400,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T10:16:17",
"transactionHash": "0xd16f57eed01a4edca7bca41bc5de100caca5265fecbe0bb4d84080754af695dc",
"transactionIndex": 66,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xd9e1ce17f2641f24ae83637ab66a2cca9c378b9f",
"value": 100040960961230628,
"fee": 5403373540925517,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14145408,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-05T10:19:13",
"transactionHash": "0x8ce35ed7dfd9d5e2eb68a70632cad083dfc0a3bc87317b7199582ade6f38b230",
"transactionIndex": 126,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xe6cd4727a1058e6973e973986d0493f1e7975ef8",
"value": 5106850519666560,
"fee": 19907523574730646,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
},
{
"blockNumber": 14190133,
"blockTimestamp": "2022-02-12T08:20:31",
"transactionHash": "0x7944031ad46e604607aca5fd97fd2feaeaf580b0df3e0e0658196dac24954f7b",
"transactionIndex": 266,
"logIndex": null,
"contractAddress": null,
"transferType": "trx",
"from": "0x6a73eb4e8ea2068ec539d2f0d15d757766e247e4",
"to": "0xb03b54093225be141bd5527aeba7289057e44244",
"value": 160000000000000000,
"fee": 972908623281000,
"asset": "ETH",
"decimals": 18
}
]
}Or imagine you want statistics that include the average of gas price, or average miners reward? No problem, try watch_getStatsByDay!
Request example:
URL: <https://ethereum.api.watchdata.io/node/jsonrpc?api_key=your_api_key>
RequestType: POST
Body:
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"watch_getStatsByDay",
"params":[1645170803],
"id":0
}Response example:
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 0,
"result": {
"transactionCount": 1252754,
"averageGasPrice": 99672209984.26283,
"totalGasUsed": 99200040530,
"uncleBlockReward": 676500000000000000000,
"minersReward": 13594383283569909503493,
"blockCount": 6418
}
}A huge amount of useful information in just one endpoint.
When you’re creating a decentralized app, the last thing you want is to be stuck using a less-than-accurate token price. That’s why we at WatchData are proud to announce our new Price API — the first of its kind that lets you get accurate token prices from the blockchain. Our Price API is easy to use and powerful, giving dApp developers access to accurate token prices without having to deal with the hassle of managing their own infrastructure. And don’t worry — our Price API has everything you need! 😎
Request example:
{
"base_symbol": "BTC",
"quote_symbol": "ETH"
}Response example
{
"base_symbol": "BTC",
"quote_symbol": "ETH",
"price": 13.745515525559787,
"created_at": "2022-05-04T09:36:51+00:00"
}As you can see, in just one action you can get value on the requested cryptocurrency!
Conclusion
As you may have noticed from the article — having your own nodes is a huge work, which requires constant expenses on technical specialists, you will always keep your hand on the pulse and watch for updates, so that your application has the correct information and moreover, when you decide to scale your product, everything can simply break down.
Believe me, we at WatchData have faced similar problems ourselves and that’s why we decided to make this product. A product which helps to focus on your real tasks first of all. Our current goal is to cover as many networks as you can interact with. Provide an API to multiple blockchains on one platform!
We understand how hard it is for developers to learn about different APIs for different blockchains and how much time they spend on this task. Our goal is also to save your time and money by providing a convenient solution for all blockchain interactions in one place!
Take the simple steps to stop wasting your time and money now!
- Sign up for WatchData
- Get your first API KEY
- Learn documentation
- And start building!
Check out our Getting Started Guide with WatchData documentation. We hope this will help you get started with WatchData and begin collecting the data you need to make your business a success. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on our WatchData Discord channel. To see what you can build with our API → Check How to guides!
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