<p>"Full-index client" is a term really coined by the author. I've never heard of it in the Bitcoin community. After reading <a href="http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001802/ch02.html#_common_transaction_forms" rel="nofollow">the section in the book</a>, it seems that a full-index client is just a client that holds all the data in the blockchain but is not necessarily a full node. To be a full node you must adhere with all of the bitcoin protocol. A full-index client might not adhere with the entire bitcoin protocol, but would still have the entire blockchain. Full-index simply means "holds all the data", but it might not be a full node. At least that's my interpretation.</p>

<p>To run a full node you must download <a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/download" rel="nofollow">Bitcoin Core</a>, which is the only supported "full node" I am aware of.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-06T12:59:04.693Z
2015-05-06T12:59:04.693Z
Luca Matteis
<p>I've read in "Mastering bitcoin" that a wallet can construct a transaction even if offline but is full-index client, I know full node is a client which holds the complete blockchain data.<br>
is there a different between the two ? 
Another question is how do I know I'm running full node? does 40giga of data in the data folder is my confirmation of running full node and having the complete blockchain on the HD ? </p>

<nodes>
What is the different between full-index client to full node?
Haddar Macdasi
# What is the different between full-index client to full node?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-05-06)

I've read in "Mastering bitcoin" that a wallet can construct a transaction even if offline but is full-index client, I know full node is a client which holds the complete blockchain data.  
is there a different between the two ?
Another question is how do I know I'm running full node? does 40giga of data in the data folder is my confirmation of running full node and having the complete blockchain on the HD ?

**Tags:** nodes


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-05-06. Score: 1

"Full-index client" is a term really coined by the author. I've never heard of it in the Bitcoin community. After reading [the section in the book](http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001802/ch02.html#_common_transaction_forms), it seems that a full-index client is just a client that holds all the data in the blockchain but is not necessarily a full node. To be a full node you must adhere with all of the bitcoin protocol. A full-index client might not adhere with the entire bitcoin protocol, but would still have the entire blockchain. Full-index simply means "holds all the data", but it might not be a full node. At least that's my interpretation.

To run a full node you must download [Bitcoin Core](https://bitcoin.org/en/download), which is the only supported "full node" I am aware of.


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