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* [bitcoin-dev] Bitcoin Node Speed Test
@ 2015-07-23 14:19 slurms
  2015-07-23 15:04 ` Gavin Andresen
                   ` (5 more replies)
  0 siblings, 6 replies; 14+ messages in thread
From: slurms @ 2015-07-23 14:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: bitcoin-dev

On this day, the Bitcoin network was crawled and reachable nodes surveyed to find their maximum throughput in order to determine if it can safely support a faster block rate. Specifically this is an attempt to prove or disprove the common statement that 1MB blocks were only suitable slower internet connections in 2009 when Bitcoin launched, and that connection speeds have improved to the point of obviously supporting larger blocks.


The testing methodology is as follows:

 * Nodes were randomly selected from a peers.dat, 5% of the reachable nodes in the network were contacted.

 * A random selection of blocks was downloaded from each peer.

 * There is some bias towards higher connection speeds, very slow connections (<30KB/s) timed out in order to run the test at a reasonable rate.

 * The connecting node was in Amsterdam with a 1GB NIC. 

 
Results:

 * 37% of connected nodes failed to upload blocks faster than 1MB/s.

 * 16% of connected nodes uploaded blocks faster than 10MB/s.

 * Raw data, one line per connected node, kilobytes per second http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=6b4NuiVQ


This does not support the theory that the network has the available bandwidth for increased block sizes, as in its current state 37% of nodes would fail to upload a 20MB block to a single peer in under 20 seconds (referencing a number quoted by Gavin). If the bar for suitability is placed at taking only 1% of the block time (6 seconds) to upload one block to one peer, then 69% of the network fails for 20MB blocks. For comparison, only 10% fail this metric for 1MB blocks.


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 14+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2015-07-24  3:54 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 14+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2015-07-23 14:19 [bitcoin-dev] Bitcoin Node Speed Test slurms
2015-07-23 15:04 ` Gavin Andresen
2015-07-23 15:55 ` Jameson Lopp
2015-07-23 17:14   ` Slurms MacKenzie
2015-07-23 17:41     ` Pindar Wong
2015-07-23 16:05 ` Peter Todd
2015-07-23 19:56   ` Marcel Jamin
2015-07-23 19:57     ` Joseph Gleason ⑈
2015-07-24  2:55     ` Peter Todd
2015-07-23 16:36 ` Leo Wandersleb
2015-07-23 17:12   ` Slurms MacKenzie
2015-07-24  2:48 ` Matt Corallo
2015-07-24  3:19   ` Slurms MacKenzie
2015-07-24  3:54 ` grarpamp

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