MyNode is another popular open source project including a lot of Bitcoin related software. Is is super easy to install, you just have to flash it on an SD card, put it into your nano-computer an plug it in. You do not need any screen to use myNode as the administrative tools are accessible from a browser. You can manage it from a computer or even from your smartphone. Once installed, go to http://mynode.local/ and create a lightning wallet and node in two clicks.
==== Choosing your hardware
Independently of the type of computer you will use, from a server in the cloud to a mini-PC, you will have to choose the hardware configuration that suits your needs and wallet.
If you use a mini-PC or rent a server, the storage can be the costliest part. Let's have a look at the different options available. First there are two main types of drives, HDDs and SSDs. HDDs are a lot cheaper and SSDs are a lot faster, but both would do the job. The fastest SSDs up to date use the NVMe protocol, but depending on your hardware they may not be better than the cheaper version, the SATA ones. As an example, the Raspberry Pi 4 cannot benefit from them because of the limited bandwidth of it's USB port. To choose the size, let's look at the blockchain. As of July 2020 it's size is ~330GB including the transaction index. If you want to have some margin available for the future or to install other stuff on your node, choose at least 1TB.
For the CPU and RAM, low-end equipment should be enough to run a lightning node. The 10-year-old computer in your garage or your old student laptop should do the job. Even the $40 Raspberry Pi 4 has a powerful enough CPU to manage it. For the RAM 2GB is enough but 4GB is probably a better option.
* Bandwidth
* Full node backend (bitcoind, btcd) or lightweight backend (neutrino)
* What hardware will you use
* Minimum Hardware requirements
* CPU
* RAM
* Storage : there are two main types of drives, HDDs and SSDs. HDDs are a lot cheaper and SSDs are a lot faster, but both would do the job. The fastest SSDs up to date use the NVMe protocol, but depending on your hardware they may not be better than the cheaper version, the SATA ones. As an example the Raspberry Pi 4 cannot benefit from them because of the limited bandwidth of it's USB port.
To choose the size, let's look at the blockchain. As of July 2020 it's size is ~330GB including the transaction index. If you want to have some margin available for the future or to install other stuff on your node, choose at least 1TB.
* Bandwidth
* Where will you host it (cloud hosting, VPS, own server, your laptop, RPi, MiniPC)
* What OS will you use (Linux variant, Windows, other)
Trigger
4 years ago