Been looking into running my own full node but I’m unsure on which path to take. I’ve seen companies like mynode, umbrel and nodl offer full nodes that you just order from them and plug in to start using which is a bit more expensive but very simple. I’ve also heard you can build your own for cheaper but it’s more complicated to set up. I’m looking for some help here in deciding what route to take and what the pros and cons are of both? Any information or insight I can get to help me with this process would be greatly appreciated! #bitcoin #fullnode #nostr
Discussion
Running a full node is very easy. If you have a spare laptop you don't even need to buy any special hardware. Just download Bitcoin core, let it synchronize and off you go. Just make sure to have enough memory to store the whole block chain (and a good internet connection), 2 Tb SSD and you won't have to worry in quite some time.
Awesome I’ll look into that thanks! If it’s that easy to do what’s the difference between doing it that way and purchasing one from one of those companies?
They offer the ease of use of a plug&play piece of hardware with its OS specifically designed to run not just a bitcoin node, but a full cohort of self-hosted apps that you might want to run on top or aside.
For example, you might also want to run lighting core on top of your bitcoin core node for the LN, with Ride the Lightning and BTCPay on top of that and some other apps to help you manage your channels and liquidity. You might also want to run a private relay for nostr, your own cloud storage service and some other self-hosted stuff.
All of that, can be done with your own hardware, either installing an OS like start9, or software like umbrel and others. You can do it on a Raspberry Pi, a spare laptop/desktop.
So the main thing, imho, is whether you have the spare hardware to do it, our the spare cash to buy the plug&play hardware.
Thanks for the help! This is great information!