I am setting up my old netbook and a spare 320GB HDD to run a full node help contribute to the Bitcoin core network. You can too!
What is a full node?
It is a program that fully validates transactions and blocks.
To download Bitcoin Core full node go here: Download
Why is it important?
Helps the network by accepting transactions and blocks from other full nodes, validating those transactions and blocks, and then relaying them to further full nodes.
In my live course session yesterday with Andreas Antonopoulos explains further here: Why run full node?