There are many different options when running a Ethereum node. I want to make sure I pick the right options before I start downloading the blockchain... can someone explain the advantages of using:
—light —cache —fastsync
I’m not sure which ones to use and I don’t want to break anything. The main purpose of my node is to act as wallet for my website that accepts Ether, so for example if this was a bitcoin node I’d enable pruning as I don’t need the entire blockchain.
"Full" Sync: Gets the block headers, the block bodies, and validates every element from genesis block.
Fast Sync: Gets the block headers, the block bodies, it processes no transactions until current block - 64(*). Then it gets a snapshot state and goes like a full synchronization.
Light Sync: Gets only the current state. To verify elements, it needs to ask to full (archive) nodes for the corresponding tree leaves.
Then an extra piece of information on cache and how it can used to go fast from this response:
A 50% speed increase is possible just by increasing the cache.
If you are starting from the beginning, use: geth --fast --cache=1024
If you already have some of the blockchain, use: geth --cache=1024
Depending on your RAM, you can also try with higher values, like --cache=2048.
