[here is my question]

Hey Guys,

Apologies if this has been answered already, didn't see much in search results though. Just looking to get some clarity on how lightning nodes work and how private keys are stored (via lightning node ... I think).

So I have installed Pierre Rochard's Lightning Power Node Launcher, it worked great and is now fully synced. I then installed both the Joule Chrome extension and the Zap Desktop wallet. I then sent some satoshis to the Joule Extension and waited for confirmations. After that, I launched the Zap Desktop wallet (by right clicking the BTC symbol in windows tray, then advanced options, then "Open Zap Desktop") and it seemed to automatically import whatever data it needed from the lightning node to have control over the satoshis that I previously sent to the Joule extension.

So here is my question - Where are the keys for these satoshis being held? How was I able to see satoshis in the Zap Desktop application without doing anything except clicking a button? They seem to still show up in the Joule extension AND the Zap Desktop wallet. How is this possible? From what I understand so far, it's something to do with the "Macaroons" that are included in the lightning nodes files? Maybe all of the data and "keys" are stored in the lightning nodes files, and both Joule extension and Zap Desktop are just an interface to those files/funds?

Any help/explanation is appreciated - apologies for the long post.

Hello,

I am trying to sync up a lightning node (as per https://medium.com/lightning-power-users/windows-macos-lightning-network-284bd5034340) but not sure I have the hardware that will allow it to work.

I found this computer in a dumpster, rebuilt it, and added a few parts. It's running an old xeon processor (2.67 GHz), 12 GB of DDR3 RAM, an 80GB SSD, 500GB HDD (64MB Cache). My internet is 100 up/down.

I've been syncing for about 24 hours at this point and the ETA shows 12 hours remaining, with 77.48% done. It seems to have slowed down significantly in the past few hours. I just replaced the HDD last night (realized during previous sync attempt it was done for).

Has anyone gone through this process before with a similar (garbage) PC? Also trying to get Lightning Labs new desktop wallet up and running on my laptop. Very into this stuff. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks.