Just requested to join the telegram group. I’m in the same situation as you with regards to the Pi, luckily I haven’t started a lightning node on it yet
I don’t come to the #Nostr expecting anything, but if you wouldn’t mind boosting this note I’d appreciate it. 🙏
I’m one of the founders of nostr:npub1hxfkcs9gvtm49702rmwn2aeuvhkd2w6f0svm4sl84g8glhzx5u9srk5p6t, a community of noderunners on the Nostr, currently with over 340 member nodes and an active Telegram group, where we help new and experienced users connect, share knowledge, and expand the Lightning network together.
I started my journey into running a bitcoin and Lightning node in early 2021, when I was one of the first 100 members of Plebnet.
Built on a Raspberry Pi4 with 8 GB of ram, my current node, Dan on the Moon now runs 60 channels with a total capacity of nearly 175 million sats.
In early January, 2023, soon after joining the Nostr, I realized there was no organized group of noderunners, so I decided to start one along with a few other people. Within 3 months, we had reached 200 members, and are on track to double that by our one year anniversary.
Due to the current high-fee environment, my node hardware is struggling under the load. With no way to expand memory and disk space in the current configuration, it's due for an upgrade.
Because it runs Umbrel, I've decided the path of least resistance will be to purchase an Umbrel Home, which sells for $500 US, and ships with a migration assistant to seamlessly move all of the existing node data and channels.
In the future, I plan to also build a second node on custom-built components, but the current need is to keep this node stable and not end up in a situation where any of my channels get force-closed.
If I am able to raise the funds through Geyser, the node will be renamed "The Nodestrich" and will provide more stability for my channel peers, who have been some of the most supportive and helpful people I have met since I started my journey.
Thank you! 💜⚡️🫂
Discussion
dont go with a pi, you will pay twice. once bitcoin and ln really takes off you dont want your node run on a pi
None of us knew what we were doing in the beginning! 😅
The Umbrel Home is my plan for the next couple of years but I want to build out a much more robust node and I will be asking for advice on what hardware and software to run it on.
No, and I already have the pi up and running. It does it’s job but I’ll be looking to upgrade to something else when funds allow!
Like I say, at least I only have the bitcoin node for now so I can easily switch hardware
I went Umbrel on a pi first and built a second node on a dell micro tower. The dell ended up being more inexpensive than the pi
I have a spare desktop that I might upgrade, but mini pcs like NUCs are so cheap that I’m wondering if it’s even worth the hassle
I like the micro PC because it has more power than the pi. I forget what processors are in the NUC. But an old laptop is a good option too because of the battery as a backup. The entire blockchain synced for me in like 28hrs on the dell.