Ethereum is a distributed network supported by thousands of privately owned computers (nodes and validators) around the world. This distribution is a fundamental aspect of Ethereum's design, contributing to its reliability and high uptime.
The network's distributed architecture eliminates the risks from single points of failure, as thousands of nodes independently maintain and verify new and historical transactions. These nodes work together to check if transactions are correct, relay the valid ones to their peers, and add new batches into blocks, providing a redundancy that keeps the network running smoothly even if some nodes go offline. This global network of independent participants is what makes Ethereum highly resilient to attacks, outages, and censorship.
The distributed nature of Ethereum's network also helps it remain neutral and accessible, meaning that participants from anywhere in the world can interact with it and that no jurisdiction has outside control over the system. By not relying on a centralized entity, Ethereum is consistently online, which is mission critical for the Ethereum community to dependably support applications and digital assets for users.