@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Once a transaction has been created, it is signed by the owner (or owners) of th
((("bitcoin network","propagating transactions on")))((("transactions","propagating")))Once a bitcoin transaction is sent to any node connected to the bitcoin network, the transaction will be validated by that node. If valid, that node will propagate it to the other nodes to which it is connected, and a success message will be returned synchronously to the originator. If the transaction is invalid, the node will reject it and synchronously return a rejection message to the originator.
The bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer network, meaning that each bitcoin node is connected to a few other bitcoin nodes that it discovers during startup through the peer-to-peer protocol. The entire network forms a loosely connected mesh without a fixed topology or any structure, making all nodes equal peers. Messages, including transactions and blocks, are propagated from each node to the peers to which it is connected. A new validated transaction injected into any node on the network will be sent to three to four of the neighboring nodes, each of which will send it to three to four more nodes, and so on. In this way, within a few seconds a valid transaction will propagate in an exponentially expanding ripple across the network until all connected nodes have received it.
The bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer network, meaning that each bitcoin node is connected to a few other bitcoin nodes that it discovers during startup through the peer-to-peer protocol. The entire network forms a loosely connected mesh without a fixed topology or any structure, making all nodes equal peers. Messages, including transactions and blocks, are propagated from each node to the peers to which it is connected. A new validated transaction injected into any node on the network will be sent all of the nodes connected to it (neighbors), each of which will send the transaction all its neighbors, and so on. In this way, within a few seconds a valid transaction will propagate in an exponentially expanding ripple across the network until all connected nodes have received it.
The bitcoin network is designed to propagate transactions and blocks to all nodes in an efficient and resilient manner that is resistant to attacks. To prevent spamming, denial-of-service attacks, or other nuisance attacks against the bitcoin system, every node independently validates every transaction before propagating it further. A malformed transaction will not get beyond one node. The rules by which transactions are validated are explained in more detail in <<tx_verification>>.(((range="endofrange", startref="ix_ch05-asciidoc1")))
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
10 years ago