What build for a Bitcoin node?

[bungalow]

I'm thinking of hosting a single-use machine at home as a Bitcoin node. (This may or may not be sensible, but that's not my question.)

What would be a good choice of hardware? I need low running costs and reliability. Not sure about performance -- apart from the initial blockchain load that takes a few days, I guess the load is pretty light, and is limited by internet bandwidth. The graphics card can be cheap and cheerful as it's mostly a lights-out application.

I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

[craighazan]

Amazon are having a bit of a sale on beelink, 16 GB VRAM right there with NootedRed.

 

[guindillas]

Don't you need an ASIC, or is for lighnting network?

 

[bungalow]

Wow. Cheap. I'll see if they sell them here in the UK. Thank you.

Amazon are having a bit of a sale on beelink, 16 GB VRAM right there with NootedRed.

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[bungalow]

Don't you need an ASIC, or is for lighnting network?

I don't think so. I don't know what either of those is.
I'm talking about a bitcoin blockchain node, not bit coin mining.

 

[craighazan]

@bungalow Intel and AMD flavors, I think the main sale is 10-12 October. I would argue that AMD's ability to leverage system memory for tasks would be an advantage over Intel. I use my 4700G for AI and it's pretty quick. The days of big GPU farms for mining are gone because of the way the contracts are handled, its all about VRAM.

 

[guindillas]

I don't think so. I don't know what either of those is.
I'm talking about a bitcoin blockchain node, not bit coin mining.

Completely lost

 

[trs96]

What would be a good choice of hardware? I need low running costs and reliability.

Here's some links to pre-built mini-pcs (node devices) bundled with software node packages that are used for this purpose.

These are small devices that use less power and can be left on all the time cheaply. Various software node packages will help make this process easy. Some vendors sell a pre-built node device that makes it easier. Examples include Umbrel, myNode, nodl, Ronin Dojo, RaspiBlitz, Start9 Embassy.

I don't use or endorse any of these specific products. Just giving some direction so that you can do your own research.

 

[Toyo72]

You can get an inexpensive 4th or 5th gen i5-based computer, with 8 to 16gb of RAM and at least a 1Tb SSD, and run StartOS server by Start9 labs. Host Bitcoin node as well as a number of other services, like Vaultwarden (Bitwarden) password manager, SearXNG private search engine instance, Lightning node, Matrix server, etc. It is extremely easy to set up and keep up-to-date (one click in most cases), and it is FOSS.