What is a Blockchain Node Provider? Why Is It Essential?

For those venturing into blockchain development, the terminology surrounding nodes can be quite daunting. What exactly is a blockchain node? Why is it challenging to operate your own Ethereum node? What role does a node provider play, and how do services like Infura, Alchemy, and Quicknode differ from one another?

You're not alone in feeling overwhelmed—many share the same confusion. Let’s break down the essentials.

What is a Node in Blockchain?

To start, a node is a software application running on a computer, enabling connections to the broader blockchain network. It communicates with other nodes to validate transactions, shares information, and retains crucial data regarding the blockchain's status.

A unique aspect of a blockchain system is that it consists solely of nodes. The hardware supporting blockchain networks like Ethereum or Bitcoin is merely a compilation of nodes operated by individuals worldwide. There’s no central server or single point of authority—this decentralization is fundamental!

It’s crucial to understand that you cannot access blockchain data without a node. Think of it as the browser for the blockchain.

You interact with a node through API requests. For example, if you’re running a local node on port 8545, you might send a request like this:

curl localhost:8545

-X POST

-H "Content-Type: application/json"

-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":0}'

Try it out on the Alchemy Composer! This request retrieves the latest block number, or the most recent block created on the network, using the blockNumber method. An example response looks like this:

{

"jsonrpc": "2.0",

"id": 0,

"result": "0xa1c054"

}

In this example, the most recent block is 0xa1c054, which converts to block 10600532 in decimal.

Why Is Running a Node Challenging?

There are several reasons why developing on your own node can be frustrating. Let’s examine a few:

What Is a Node Provider?

Node providers are essentially teams (like us!) that enable access to blockchain data without the need to manage your own node. Instead of sending requests to a local node, you can direct them to a provider with fully-synced, up-to-date nodes available around the clock.

For the blockNumber request mentioned earlier, here’s how it looks when sent to a provider:

curl https://eth-mainnet.alchemyapi.io/v2/demo

-X POST

-H "Content-Type: application/json"

-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":0}'

We merely changed the endpoint—no other modifications required!

A reliable node provider should offer at least the following:

• Access to light and full nodes with regular updates and alerts, so you can avoid issues with forks or network changes.
• Availability of archive nodes for historical transaction data (only Alchemy provides this for free!).
• Scalability and reliability: nodes should be accessible whenever you need them.
• Consistency: providers should address tricky edge cases, such as the latest-block issue mentioned earlier. This is a common problem with services like Infura.

I’m Running My dApp Locally and It Works Well! Why Do I Need a Node Provider?

You won’t require a node provider until you’re ready to deploy traffic to a public testnet or mainnet. A local blockchain environment (like those offered by Hardhat or Truffle/Ganache) is sufficient for development and testing.

However, once you intend to launch your application on a live chain, node providers become essential.

Firstly, you'll need a method to deploy your smart contract via transactions to the blockchain—you can only achieve this through a node. This means either running your own node or sending your transactions to a provider.

Secondly, your application will likely need to continuously fetch information about the blockchain to keep its internal state updated. This information also routes through a node or provider, necessitating a reliable and properly synced channel to avoid delivering outdated or incorrect data to users.

What Is Alchemy and How Does It Stand Out Among Node Providers?

If you’ve made it this far, you should grasp the essence of our existence! We serve as a blockchain node provider with exceptional reliability, outstanding customer support, and various developer tools—three features vital to our enterprise clients and the reason 70% of the leading blockchain applications route their traffic through us.

If you wish to learn how Alchemy's Supernode infrastructure tackles consistency challenges, you can find more information here.

Several factors differentiate us from other node providers:

• Developer Tools: How can you monitor user requests? If they fail, how do you debug them? What’s the status of transactions waiting to be mined? Our Alchemy Dashboard provides tools for analyzing traffic on your dApp, eliminating the need to sift through extensive logs.
• Push Notifications: Want to be alerted whenever a specific Ethereum user (like Vitalik Buterin) makes a transaction? Instead of running a script that continuously scans blocks for a specific address, you can use Alchemy Notify, a proprietary tool that sends push notifications (webhooks) for blockchain events.
• Enhanced APIs: Searching for all transactions made by a specific ETH user can be cumbersome on the blockchain. We’ve developed Enhanced APIs that allow you to execute these types of queries instantly.

How Do I Get Started?

Using Alchemy as your node provider is incredibly straightforward—just a single line of code to get going! If you’re familiar with web3.js or ethers.js, simply create a free Alchemy account, generate an API key, and replace your instantiation as follows:

// npm install alchemy-sdk

import { Alchemy } from "alchemy-sdk";

const alchemy = new Alchemy();

const blockNumber = await alchemy.core.getBlockNumber();

For a detailed tutorial, check out our Getting Started With Alchemy documentation! Additionally, our support team is available 24/7 on our Alchemy Discord. Feel free to drop by—we’re eager to assist you on your path to becoming a proficient blockchain developer!