I open this thread with the intention of share the best practices to obtain a good LN node with a good volume of routing and minimun demand of management
I start:
  • Keep a good balance between TOTAL remote and local balance, dont care about specific channel balance.
  • Zero base fee.
  • Close channels that have bad online/offline ratio.
  • Buy a UPS to minimice node shutdown.
  • Have a good internet provider with a stable connection.
  • If you have problems with Umbrel swap to Raspiblitz.
Well... i think this is all that can say. Applying this tips i have a 1.2 ratio between weeky volume routing sats / total node capacity.
Please share your tips also.
Use an automatic uptime monitor with notifications to always know if your node is running and reachable. Also, this way, you will know when your node is down the very moment it goes down, thus minimizing the time it will take you to get it back online. And it will help the operators mental health, because you don't need to constantly check on your node just to ensure everything is fine.
A simple way to do this:
  • Set up (uptime kuma)[https://github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma] on a different machine.
  • Create a monitoring configuration where your LN node has to ping your Uptime Kuma every minute to confirm it is alive.
  • Leverage Uptime Kuma Telegram integration to receive a message when your node goes down (and up).
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if you are using phoenix wallet, keep only 1 channel(!) and make sure its relatively large.
So if you are new user and its your first deposit, make a large deposit, like 500k sats, because that will roughly be the size of your channel. Phoenix adds a little capacity when they swap you in. And then keep an eye on your capaicity, do not exceed your liquidity because then the wallet will automatically create a new channel for you and that costs at least 10k sats and thats going to be a bummer if your only exceeded your capacity with 20k sats. So it sounds complicated, but its not so bad once you get the hang of it. And phoenix wallet is better long term because you own the channel, and dont have to worry about it being closed even if you dont use it much.
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There was a good thread started by @apleroy last week here: #44747. It more specifically covers routing techniques rather than operational aspects but worth checking out.
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  • Always keep an updated channel backup
  • Do not open channels smaller than 1 or 2M sats
  • Keep your implementation updated
  • Change your configuration to have new channels opened with high fees by default and then lower them as you monitor liquidity
  • Avoid Tor only nodes
  • Keep in touch with your peers
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