Feel like I should get serious with LN
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#[0]
RPi was always a terrible idea for LN nodes. They are toy quality hardware. If you're lucky you get one that is reliable. For a lot of people it had not been reliable.
#[2]
See here for an example of *much* better value. Especially now with the recession many dead companies are liquidating fleets of powerful used hardware. Much much faster and more reliable than RPi.
You want dual redundant disks to protect the critical LN database. With SSD's at an all time low price now it's affordable to do this properly. You need to pick particular hardware capable of using TWO INTERNAL DISKS. External USB is far less reliable.
https://twitter.com/i/communities/1563029300911058944
Here is a community containing advice on this topic.