Storing intermediate state (archive mode) #85
Description
As discussed in today's design review, and related to spacemeshos/SMIPS#13, we need to decide which global state data are stored in a go-spacemesh node by default, and how "archive mode" data such as intermediate state are stored (e.g., in process in go-spacemesh or in a separate "archive tool" process), and when and how these data are pruned by a node.
@noamnelke argued that a full node should store only the data required by a normal user for normal daily usage, e.g., all transactions (and receipts) that touch their account(s). He suggested that the node API make available streams of all relevant data, and otherwise be kept as simple as possible, and that a separate process can consume and store these data.
@avive argued that, in practice, users are likely to create additional accounts in the future, so this sort of solution is impractical as it would require replaying everything from genesis to, e.g., get the balance of a new account.