Blockchain size versus DAG file size

Question

I am a neophyte(noob) in cryptocurrencies so I'm here at stackexchange with this question, what is the difference between blockchain size and dag file size? Because what actually confused me was the values of it, the blockchain size of Ethereum is 670 gigs and that of the DAG file size is only 2.6 gigs. So what exact values are they storing of and can also someone explain me in brief about the contents of both the things or at least help me by referring a link in the reply?ASAP pls....

Thanks a lot

Answer 1

what is the difference between blockchain size and dag file size?

These are two different things.

The 670 GB in your explanation is the blockchain (state) data, which includes all the blocks and their headers. Depending on which client you're using, and which pruning mode, this will vary in size.

See:

• What are the Ethereum disk space needs?
• What is the exact data structure of each block?

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The DAG file is required for Ethereum's Proof of Work mining algorithms. It doesn't store any "useful" data, but rather provides a large dataset on which the mining algorithms can work. The DAG file is slowly increasing in size at a deterministic rate.

See:

• What actually is a DAG?
• What is the current DAG size? When do we expect to hit GPU limits?