How many relay nodes are running Algo

Hi all,

I would like to contribute more for Algorand project by running a node than keep my Algo on wallet only. I’m using my computers to contribute for some project like: Ergo, Monero, Sia. Algo is my next project.

I understand that there’re 2 kind of node: Relay and participation. I searched some topic about node in this forum and find out that running a relay node can earn reward. I have few questions about the relay node:

1. How many relay nodes are running Algo. The more relay nodes run, the more decentralization we have rite?
2. The blockchain size of Algo is around 700 GB, should I increase more storage in the future to meet the node requirement? Does the blockchain size effect to the decentralization of network and scale up ability?

Thank you for all replies!

Welcome to Algorand!

Regarding decentralization, relay nodes do not participate in consensus. They are really there for networking. The network of relay nodes is like the Internet backbone: people connect to them to do things (i.e., run a blockchain). As such, I would argue that participation nodes matter much more for decentralization than relay nodes.

Note that participation nodes do not need to keep the full blockchain and only need to keep the current account table which is much less than 20GB.

Useful links:

• https://algorand.foundation/faq#running-nodes-, see in particular the first question regarding rewards “Are there rewards for running a relay node?”
• https://algorand.foundation/algorand-protocol/network

Thank you for your reply, I think I will run a enterprise grade participation node as instruction.

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Do we have a static about the number of participation node are running? Regarding to FAQ, I find out that there’re over 100 relay nodes are running.

Exact list is here:

I believe that community relay nodes comming soon to the list…

The relay nodes are “Archival nodes” … participant nodes (with storage of last 1000 blocks and all account balances) are not in this list

You should run participation node only if you have some project running that requires the data… i dont see a use case for you to run the node without getting any money for it

So there are o ly 100 relay nodes thst are running algo… so we are 100 servers away from total collapse? Isnt there a way to use normal people and standard nodes so its completely decentralised, also how hard would it be to launch a satellite uo there … i think this will give us aome good attention.

There are 103 archival nodes at the moment. You can check the full up-to-date list including locations across the world here: https://chaintrail.io/network/decentralization.

What you’re describing is kind of the path forward, as the use of relay nodes will change massively during this year. Described in the 2024 roadmap: 2024 Roadmap.

Algorand had initially required all relay nodes responsible for spreading information across the network to be archival—in other words, to store a complete copy of the ledger. It was an early way of ensuring there were several viable copies of the chain history. This worked well in the beginning when there were fewer nodes, but as the network has grown it has become increasingly energy intensive for relay nodes to be tasked with both efficiently transmitting data and maintaining the full history of the ledger.

In reality, only some relay nodes need to maintain a full viable copy, and the network topology is being modified to reflect that. Transitioning a higher proportion of relays to non-archival status will not only make the network greener and more efficient but will also significantly reduce the costs associated with running non-archival relays. While these relays will still operate, they will now function as a value-added service, thereby contributing to a more streamlined and environmentally conscious Algorand ecosystem.