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11 sats \ 30 replies \ @Cje95 24 Oct \ on: Why aren't you running a node yet? bitcoin

For me it’s a mix of not knowing what I’m doing as well as life is just busy. Maybe if life slows down I’d look into it but from what I understand it takes a level of technical know how that I just don’t have. If there was a solid plug and go option than maybe I’d look into it

32 sats \ 15 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

To run a bitcoin node all you have to do is download bitcoin core on your computer and open the application.

https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

For a lighting node, Zeus embedded node on any phone is very quick and easy as well but you will need some knowledge how channels work to be able to use it effectively

https://zeusln.com/

0 sats \ 14 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

If I wanted to run on a PC, how much does that PC need to be up and running?

11 sats \ 13 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

For a bitcoin node you could leave it running for a few hours or days at the start to download the blockchain. After that you can shut it down as desired and every time you reopen it bitcoin core will download the blocks you missed which shouldn't take long as long as you open the computer every few days. Lightning nodes need to be online as much as possible.

11 sats \ 11 replies \ @Cje95 24 Oct

It seems like it would take up a ton of space does it not?

11 sats \ 6 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

The blockchain is 693 GB right now but you can run a pruned node if space is a limited. A pruned node still downloads and verifies all blocks but deletes them past one that increase beyond a certain threshold that you can set base on your needs. All newer computers have more than enough space to run a pruned node.

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

How small can a pruned node be?

11 sats \ 4 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

Last I remember you can prune the blockchain down to 550 mb, but you still have to store the utxo set which is maybe 10 to 15 GB. Looking at your other comment a 256 GB ssd would be plenty.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Oh wow. that isn't big at all. Good to know. If I have issues with my pi, I might try that out.

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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

I think right now it is less than 700 GB. Depends on what is a lot for you. Storage is quite cheap now. Unless you mean physical space.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 24 Oct

I mean my laptop doesn’t have 700 GB of storage 😂

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

@ChrisS says you can prune it down to under 20gb or so.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

My Mac only has 256 gb. They charge so much for storage so.i went with a smaller size. Kind of annoying..

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Good to know. I am off-grid so sometimes the power goes down and I can't run a PC 24/7.

0 sats \ 13 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

That makes sense. I am sure that is a common answer. Its not all that hard anymore. And there are some somewhat plug and play solutions I think? I am using a umbrel node on a pi 4. I have heard of something called start 9. Not sure how easy that is.

11 sats \ 10 replies \ @Bee_Aye 24 Oct

start9 is awesome! click, btc node...click, electrs server...click, lnd node

🤙

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Kind of pricey. I assume they are more powerful. Can they be used for things other than nodes?

22 sats \ 3 replies \ @Bee_Aye 24 Oct

you can buy an old mini comp and load the OS onto there since its FOSS. i got mine for $200 with 2 tb, 16 gigs ram which will be decent for running a btc stack

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

The start 9 os?

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bee_Aye 24 Oct

ya,

https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/flashing-guides/os-x86

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

Very cool. I didn't know that.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @ChrisS 24 Oct

Yes they specialize in many self hosting apps like bitwarden next cloud and others but I would be careful running other apps like those on the same machine as a bitcoin/lightning node.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

What makes that a better option than a PC or a pi? I'm assuming it's easier.

22 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bee_Aye 24 Oct

you dont ever have to fuck with command line

49 sats \ 1 reply \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

That's a big bonus. I like that.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bee_Aye 24 Oct

the caveat to start9 is you only get local network access and tor access. the next release of the OS will supposidly provide clearnet access to services running on a start9, but details and release timeline are scant.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @Cje95 24 Oct

I’ve always debated on getting a pi but it never quite lined up with being able to do stuff with it

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave OP 24 Oct

I also run a home media server off a pi. And I have used one for retro gaming in the past. They are super useful and fun to play with. I am not super technical and still am able to figure it out with YouTube. I recommend it for sure. I like that option because it's always useful for something.