The number of Bitcoin Nodes available right now could use a healthy bump even though it can be rather expensive for home users to offer this type of service. Additionally, there is the threat of facing a DDoS attack when supporting the Bitcoin Classic or any other Bitcoin version. A temporary promotion by Google lets enthusiasts set up a handful of Bitcoin Classic nodes on Google Compute Engine for free without the risk of DDoS.

Also read: BCoin Lets Users Run A Bitcoin Node In Node.js

Google Compute Engine Bitcoin Node

For those digital currency enthusiasts who want to create a Bitcoin Node, but not run it at home, Google may have the solution for you. In fact, the search engine giant is running a promotion where users can get US#300 worth of credit for Google Compute Engine completely free of charge. This credit is valid for a sixty day period, which opens up interesting opportunities.

Similar to the services provided by Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine lets users run a virtual server where they can install just about any application and use it. Renting this computer power is relatively cheap, even though electricity and maintenance fees are included in the hourly price.

The Google Compute Engine promotion allows users to get US$300 worth of credit, which can go a long way depending on how it is spent. Bitcoin enthusiasts might make use of this opportunity to run a Bitcoin Node on this platform, as the credit should cover operating expenses for the full 60-day period.

Many people have been experimenting with running a Bitcoin Classic node on the network, which would explain why the numbers keep going up. At the same time, it seems like there is a wave of DDoS attacks against Bitcoin Classic nodes taking place right now, which makes users anxious to run this type of solution on their home computer.

Setting up a Google Compute Engine instance is not all that difficult, as 70-80GB of hard drive space and a shared CPU will go a long way. Throw in some decent memory – about 2GB of RAM will do the trick – and users will be up and running with their Bitcoin Classic node in no time.

Source: Reddit

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