QRL Node Maintenance
The QRL node requires very little maintenance to keep running. There are a few things that can come up over the life of the node to be aware of and account for.
State File Growth
The QRL chain continues to grow in size with each new block added. This is the nature of blockchain, and a foundation of the eco-system. This is how we achieve immutability, the entire history is there for anyone to see.
On average the blockchain grows by about KB a block, with the average block time being around seconds. At the time of writing the chain consumes about GB of space.
Plan ahead for the chain to grow, once the disk is full the node will stop syncing blocks. At the time of writing the chain consumes about GB of space at blockheight .
QRL Log
The node writes to a log file, by default stored in the ~/.qrl/qrl.log file. This log file rolls into a backup at MB. These log files can add up to some additional disk usage
and may be worth monitoring.
Periodic Updates
Through the life of the project there will be updates and upgrade required to the node.
Soft Fork
This is an update to the QRL node software that implements a new feature or fixes some bug while keeping backwards compatibility for old node. This means that all nodes running either old or new software can occupy the same network.
Soft fork changes do not require that all node operators update, and may only effect a small percentage of users.
Hard Fork
A hard fork brings major changes or modifications that cannot be supported without all nodes upgrading to the latest release.
Failure to update by the determined fork blockheight will create 2 networks, one with old chain data and one with the latest code running. Nodes using the old software will not function on the network and anything that happens will not be recognized by the main chain.
Hard fork updates are well announced prior to the the fork height. Join the mailing list or our support chat on Discord to keep up with the latest updates.