Running a Node
Node Types
Flow network is made up of many node types. Here is more information on the different Node Types. For a quick reference here are the types:
| Node Type | Flow Stake Required | Permissioned | Description | Running a Node |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | Zero | No | Best node for application developers that need high throught-put. This node is used to observe the network and get the latest blockchain data. | Setup |
| Access | 100 | No | Provides access to the Flow network. Public nodes, that rate limits, is used to send transactions to the network and provide Flow blockchain data. | Setup |
| Collection | 250,000 | Yes | Bandwidth-optimized nodes divided by the protocol into several cooperating Clusters. | Setup |
| Consensus | 500,000 | Yes | Form and propose blocks in a manner similar to traditionally-structured proof-of-stake blockchains. | Setup |
| Verification | 135,000 | Yes | Verify the correctness of blocks proposed by the Consensus nodes. | Setup |
| Execution | 1,250,000 | yes | Most resource-intensive nodes on the Flow network, responsible for executing transactions and maintaining the Execution State. | Setup |
| Archive | Zero | No | Scalable and efficient way to access the history of Flow protocol. | Setup |
Why run a node?
You do not have to run your own node to get started with Flow. You can use the Flow Emulator locally to test your smart contracts and web apps. There are public access nodes available, here is the information to get started, Access Nodes.
Running an Light Node aka Observer Node
There are community access nodes available to use, but they are rate limited. Alternative to an Access node, anyone can run their own Light node. This is a good option if you want to have untrottled access to current Flow blockchain data. More information
Setup
First make sure your node has the needed resources, here are the requirements, and step by step instructions to get up and running. Light Node Documentation. Light node can be run in a Docker container, it's available for testnet and mainnet.
Running
For high usage applications on Flow, that have many user interactions, it might be necessary to run your own Light node. Here are the step by step instructions to run an observer node. The benefit is, no staked FLOW and no register is required. Also, already mentioned you have untrottled access to the blockchain data.
Light nodes does not need to be staked. Transactions are relayed to an access node upstream.
Running an Access Node
If you want to run an access node, you will need to stake FLOW and register your node. Here are the step by step instructions to run an access node. There are benefit to running an Access node.