ICON Node is based on the loopchain. loopchain is a high-performance blockchain engine that you can produce blocks as a Public Representative and also you can connect to the peer to peer network to monitor the blockchain as a Citizen Node.
Public Representative
ICON Network is running by Public Representatives that produce blocks and validate the blocks. Public Representatives can be voted and elected by token holders. Top-ranked 22 Public Representatives are called by Main P-Rep that they can participate in making on-chain governance decisions. Only accounts registered as Public Representative can produce blocks.
Citizen Node
Citizen Node is a node that does not produce a block. This node can connect to the peer to peer network to monitor the blockchain and can provide an API Endpoint for the JSON-RPC API.
For your guide
Please check the below guides to install and operate your node
Updated about a year ago