Steem RPC Node List Review

timcliff (73) in steem • 6 years ago (edited)

It has been about eight months since I last reviewed the list of active Steem RPC nodes. Since then, there have been quite a few updates - new nodes being added and existing nodes being deprecated. It is time to review the list of nodes again to get an accurate and up to date list.

I compiled RPC node list data from five sources:
(1) Steem.center (community maintained)
(2) Full API Node Update posts (@holger80)
(3) geo.steem.pl (@jamzed)
(4) steemistry.com (@followbtcnews)
(5) Steem Developer Portal (@steemit)

Based on the list compiled from those five lists, I ran a brief test of each node. Below are the results.

Nodes that appear active:

Node	Operator
api.steemit.com	@steemit
api.steem.house	@gtg
gtg.steem.house:8090	@gtg
appbasetest.timcliff.com	@timcliff
rpc.steemviz.com	@ausbitbank
steemd.minnowsupportproject.org	@followbtcnews
steemd.privex.io	@privex
rpc.usesteem.com	@themarkymark
anyx.io	@anyx
hive.anyx.io	@anyx

Nodes that appear deprecated:

Node	Operator
api.steemitstage.com	@steemit
api.steemitdev.com	@steemit
appbase.buildteam.io	@themarkymark
rpc.curiesteem.com	@curie
rpc.steemliberator.com	@netuoso
rpc.buildteam.io	@themarkymark

Calls to Action:

If you are a node operator, please review the above list!

If the status of your node is accurate, you can either ignore (take no action) or let me know that the status is correct in the comments below.
If the status of your node is wrong, then please let me know.
If you are running a RPC node that is not in this list, please let me know so I can add it.

Also, if anyone maintains an active list of RPC nodes (similar to the five above) or knows of any active RPC nodes not in the list - please let me know so I can add them to my list as well.

Next Steps

After everyone has been given an opportunity to review the list, I'll update the Steem.center wiki page and submit a pull request to update the Steem Developer Portal. I'll also provide the list to @holger80, @jamzed, and @followbtcnews so they can update their sources.

steem rpc dev steemdev witness-category

6 years ago by timcliff (73)

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jeanpi1908 (63) · 6 years ago

I don't know so much about this, but would it be better if every top witness had a RPC-nodes or do we already have enough?

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timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

More RPC nodes would be better. Once the MIRA release is done, it will be cheaper so more people may start hosting nodes.

gtg (70) · 6 years ago

I'm slowly refactoring my infrastructure (including my endpoints).
While gtg.steem.house:8090 is deprecated, it is still running routing to a websocket endpoint, mostly used by cli_wallet users, but I also still see quite a lot of obsolete, deprecated traffic from various clients.
I think that the landscape will largely change after MIRA release.

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

That makes sense. Do you want the gtg.steem.house:8090 node to still be listed in the public RPC node lists?

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gtg (70) · 6 years ago

Yes, you can leave it listed for now, I will make appropriate announcements when it all settles down.
Like for example I have also https://api.steem.house/simple endpoint that routes to consensus node for broadcasting purposes, etc.

Maybe we should establish a standard way of publishing such info, for example using account's JSON metadata? I don't like EOS way by the way, but we can keep it simple:

"endpoints": {
  "api": "https://api.steem.house",
  "seed": "gtg.steem.house:2001"
}

Well, maybe not that simple because there are some more things to consider and we don't want to use napkin grade pseudo-standard that wouldn't cover all cases (multiple nodes, not all nodes are equal (plugins, configs) websocket support or not, etc.).

;-)

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

Well, it can be off chain for starters. If we came up with a list of criteria that we want to track, we could work on collecting the info from all the node operators.

bala41288 (70) · 6 years ago

Hey @timcliff. In corporate companies where Symantec proxy filter is used, Steemit.com and api.steemit.com is blocked. Is there a way I can change the RPC nodes for my account alone and continue to use the Blockchain with other dapp interfaces?

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timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

Kind of, but it is complicated. It basically depends on which DApp you are using, and whether that particular DApp allows you to select a node. AFAIK, most DApps do not allow users to select that, so you are stuck with whatever node they choose. Depending on your technical capability though, you can often run a local instance of their DApp (if it is open source) and then edit your instance to point to whatever node you want.

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bala41288 (70) · 6 years ago

Okay thanks. I remember seeing an option to change the RPC node in one of the DApps in the UI itself. I think it is Steem peak. Let me explore and see.

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timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

DTube possibly

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jamzed (54) · 6 years ago

Thank you Tim for your effort ;-) will update the list accordingly.

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

Welcome :) Sounds good - if you want, I can let you know in about a week after I complete my review so you have the "final final" list.

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

Here is the final list:
https://steemit.com/steem/@timcliff/updated-steem-rpc-node-list

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horpey (73) · 6 years ago

What about rpc.esteem.app?

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

Thanks! Added.

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horpey (73) · 6 years ago

You're welcome & appreciated!

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timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

I talked to @good-karma (the owner of eSteem) and he said that he had left it off the list of public nodes on purpose. The node is intended for the load of their eSteem users.

horpey (73) · 6 years ago

Thanks for the response

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holoz0r (71) · 6 years ago

Looking forward to MIRA meaning that more nodes can go active. :)

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whatsup (75) · 6 years ago

Nice Tim! Thank you.

jrawsthorne (59) · 6 years ago

I'm currently syncing a MIRA based node to start testing with. Once I've looked at the performance I might decide to publicise it or just use it to power my hivemind node. Does anyone know the cheapest way to run a node or is that still to be determined?

blockchainstudio (72) · 6 years ago

Hi @timcliff, thank you for the update.

Could you also clarify which node is using hivemind? or is there any way to check whether a node is actually using hivemind?

For instance, afaik, Busy is using anyx.io, which returns a different output (e.g., alphabetical order of follower/following list) from hivemind version (e.g., api.steemit.com).

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

It would be a good thing to track. Unfortunately I don't have the data off hand.

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ausbitbank (73) · 6 years ago

I'll keep maintaining my RPC , seed, hivemind and tower api servers as long as its affordable on my witness pay. Hopefully that gets a lot easier with MIRA around the corner

themarkymark (78) · 6 years ago

https://rpc.usesteem.com is correct.

amico (66) · 6 years ago (edited)

Thanks Tim.

Can you provide evidence of where the nodes are geographically located and which server providers they use?

Resteemed

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

I don’t have that data. It would be up to individual node operators to provide info about their nodes.

amico (66) · 6 years ago (edited)

Oh, well.

So, I invite @steemit, @gtg, yourself, @ausbitbank, @followbtcnews, @privex, @themarkymark, @anyx to provide where their nodes are located geographically and which server providers they are using.

Thank you all very much!

timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

My RPC is currently located in Germany, but it is subject to change. I don't share my hosting provider info for any of my nodes.

amico (66) · 6 years ago

Thanks mate.
Isn't the hosting provider name a public data?

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timcliff (73) · 6 years ago

shrug

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ausbitbank (73) · 6 years ago

Sharing detailed hosting info would be a mistake. The public RPC node is in germany - my other machines related to my Steem activities are spread through Sweden, Finland, USA and Australia

amico (66) · 6 years ago

Thanks for your kind answer, @ausbitbank!

I'd like a basic hosting info, ie the hosting company owner name.

If it couldit be a problem, could I know why?

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gtg (70) · 6 years ago

Geographical location is irrelevant, it's latency that matters, feel free to use ping to find out.

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oflyhigh (79) · 6 years ago

Very helpful, Thank you.

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justinw (60) · 6 years ago

Thanks for putting this together @timcliff 🙂

I can confirm that api.steemit.com is the correct one to list for us.

thecryptodrive (70) · 6 years ago

I confirm both BuildTeam public nodes are deprecated.

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