Received: from sog-mx-3.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com ([172.29.43.193] helo=mx.sourceforge.net) by sfs-ml-4.v29.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtp (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1Ywwug-0005sA-I0 for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Mon, 25 May 2015 18:15:46 +0000 Received-SPF: pass (sog-mx-3.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com: domain of gmail.com designates 209.85.212.171 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.212.171; envelope-from=mh.in.england@gmail.com; helo=mail-wi0-f171.google.com; Received: from mail-wi0-f171.google.com ([209.85.212.171]) by sog-mx-3.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128) (Exim 4.76) id 1Ywwuf-0007v2-MT for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Mon, 25 May 2015 18:15:46 +0000 Received: by wicmx19 with SMTP id mx19so54696948wic.0 for ; Mon, 25 May 2015 11:15:39 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.194.9.161 with SMTP id a1mr42206490wjb.39.1432577739734; Mon, 25 May 2015 11:15:39 -0700 (PDT) Sender: mh.in.england@gmail.com Received: by 10.194.143.9 with HTTP; Mon, 25 May 2015 11:15:39 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Mon, 25 May 2015 20:15:39 +0200 X-Google-Sender-Auth: JpPwtHLW36PrN9rVE96I8P9JoPk Message-ID: From: Mike Hearn To: Andrew Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=047d7b5d34fa4a431c0516ebff02 X-Spam-Score: -0.5 (/) X-Spam-Report: Spam Filtering performed by mx.sourceforge.net. See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details. -1.5 SPF_CHECK_PASS SPF reports sender host as permitted sender for sender-domain 0.0 FREEMAIL_FROM Sender email is commonly abused enduser mail provider (mh.in.england[at]gmail.com) -0.0 SPF_PASS SPF: sender matches SPF record 1.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message 0.1 DKIM_SIGNED Message has a DKIM or DK signature, not necessarily valid -0.1 DKIM_VALID Message has at least one valid DKIM or DK signature X-Headers-End: 1Ywwuf-0007v2-MT Cc: Bitcoin Dev Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] Scaling Bitcoin with Subchains X-BeenThere: bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 25 May 2015 18:15:46 -0000 --047d7b5d34fa4a431c0516ebff02 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi Andrew, Your belief that Bitcoin has to be constrained by the belief that hardware will never improve is extremist, but regardless, your concerns are easy to assuage: there is no requirement that the block chain be stored on hard disks. As you note yourself the block chain is used for building/auditing the ledger. Random access to it is not required, if all you care about is running a full node. Luckily this makes it a great fit for tape backup. Technology that can store 185 terabytes *per cartridge* has already been developed: http://www.itworld.com/article/2693369/sony-develops-tape-tech-that-could-lead-to-185-tb-cartridges.html As you could certainly share costs of a block chain archive with other people, the cost would not be a major concern even today. And it's virtually guaranteed that humanity will not hit a storage technology wall in 2015. If your computer is compromised then all bets are off. Validating the chain on a compromised host is meaningless. --047d7b5d34fa4a431c0516ebff02 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hi Andrew,

Your belief that Bitcoin has to be constrained by= the belief that hardware will never improve is extremist, but regardless, = your concerns are easy to assuage: there is no requirement that the block c= hain be stored on hard disks. As you note yourself the block chain is used = for building/auditing the ledger. Random access to it is not required, if a= ll you care about is running a full node.

Luckily = this makes it a great fit for tape backup. Technology that can store 185 te= rabytes per cartridge=C2=A0has already been developed:

As you could certainly share cost= s of a block chain archive with other people, the cost would not be a major= concern even today. And it's virtually guaranteed that humanity will n= ot hit a storage technology wall in 2015.

If your = computer is compromised then all bets are off. Validating the chain on a co= mpromised host is meaningless.
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