• Validation Cloud has announced support for Stellar, storing a complete history of the network and allowing developers to query transaction details, account states and more.
• This will aid other services from the Stellar Development Foundation geared towards offering historical records, such as Horizon, whose historical data is limited to just one year.

Validation Cloud, a node and staking service provider for Web3, has announced support for Stellar, making it easier and more convenient for developers to query the network for historical data.

Validation Cloud announced the integration on Thursday, and SDF President Danelle Dixon commented that it would “make it easier for developers to build.”

Validation Cloud now supports @StellarOrg Horizon archive nodes!

Our archive nodes maintain a complete history of the #Stellar network, allowing devs to query historical ledger data, transaction details, & account states.

Learn more: https://t.co/a3IJ0eJSYP pic.twitter.com/E8D1b5Oydm

— Validation Cloud (@ValidationCloud) August 1, 2024

Validation Cloud offers Archive Nodes, which serve as the most comprehensive repositories of all supported blockchains’ history since the first block, better known as the genesis block. As explained in a blog post, Archive Nodes store “all transactions, smart contract interactions, and state changes” since the genesis block.

Archive Nodes differ from the pruned full nodes that the entire industry uses, which only keep recent data as it’s easier and quicker to sync, which in turn, ensures that the network is fast and efficient. But what if a developer needs data from five years ago? This is where Archive Nodes come in.

According to Validation Cloud, Archive Nodes are used in three main cases, with auditing being the most common. Tax and regulatory compliance require more data than a pruned node can handle, as it can span over seven years and, for some networks like Stellar, a decade.

Developers also require Archive Nodes when developing their dApps. Historical contract states and interactions are critical for building robust dApps. Last, blockchain explorers need a complete history of a network to serve their purposes.

Stellar will now have access to this ecosystem. The network already offers Horizon, a solution that seeks to serve as a sort of archive node, providing a restful API. However, as SDF explains here, it only supports historical data for one year “to optimize performance and ensure a streamlined experience for all users.”

The blog post noted:

Validation Cloud’s Archive Nodes for Stellar maintain a complete history of the network, allowing developers to query historical ledger data, transaction details, and account states. This is crucial for applications requiring deep historical analysis of Stellar network operations.

Stellar will join Ethereum and Hedera as the supported networks. Developers can now just tap these>