Nodes In A Box

[DaveF]

I don't have a problem, I can quit collecting anytime I want.



So, mynode. Works well out of the box, but the fact that some things are for the $99 paid premium option I don't like.
Base GUI is nice, and it does work quite well. Also, like the fact that you can run it as a VM on a regular PC.

Raspiblitz. Probably one of the earliest implementations of a pre done LN node in a box. No real GUI, all done through SSH or the screen (which I don't have / use) does just about anything you need it to do. 100% free.

Umbrel, Slick GUI, has the app store concept which I like, and the fact that it can do things unrelated to just BTC / lightning. Don't like the fact that at least for now it's locked to TOR only. I know the other things that it can do are security risks, but if you don't install them you are not at risk.

All use LND none have c-lightning, All have the ability to install RTL to manage your node along with other web based options.
All the builds above are RPi4 4GB with a 1TB SSD. the 2 on the right are m.2 SATA and the one on the left is a regular 2.5" SSD.

-Dave

[NotATether]

Umbrel, Slick GUI, has the app store concept which I like, and the fact that it can do things unrelated to just BTC / lightning. Don't like the fact that at least for now it's locked to TOR only. I know the other things that it can do are security risks, but if you don't install them you are not at risk.

Curious to know how its app store works. Is it just a repurposing of Snap to something else, or it is like having its own repo where it pulls its apps from and just uses the local package manager?

[DaveF]

Umbrel, Slick GUI, has the app store concept which I like, and the fact that it can do things unrelated to just BTC / lightning. Don't like the fact that at least for now it's locked to TOR only. I know the other things that it can do are security risks, but if you don't install them you are not at risk.

Curious to know how its app store works. Is it just a repurposing of Snap to something else, or it is like having its own repo where it pulls its apps from and just uses the local package manager?

A high level overview: https://blog.getumbrel.com/introducing-the-umbrel-app-store-7a2068c64a10

As a thought:
They all run in a Docker cointainer, so if you trust the security of it then you can sleep at night and not worry about bad things happening to your BTC.
If you see all the vulnerabilities that VMWare and all the other VM containers keep having then you might not want to.
You have to accept your own level of risk.
Would like to see that spelled out more before you install apps.

-Dave

[n0nce]

Are the 2 right boxes both using the Argon One m.2 case?
And how are the web GUIs of these projects? Since you mentioned RTL as well; is RTL more powerful / how does it compare to the stuff they come with out of the box?

These seem to be the default GUIs:

MyNode, RaspiBlitz, Umbrel

I think I would try Umbrel when I get around to building a Raspi node, just from the looks Or just stay with c-lightning + RTL.

[DaveF]

Are the 2 right boxes both using the Argon One m.2 case?

Yes that case.What is interesting is that the umbrel runs much cooler then raspiblitz. I thought it might be a case issue, but it followed the install when I wiped and reinstalled on the other device.

And how are the web GUIs of these projects? Since you mentioned RTL as well; is RTL more powerful / how does it compare to the stuff they come with out of the box?

None of them have anything for natively managing LN. You have to either SSH in and do it at the command line or use one RTL / Thunderhub / etc.
The GUI is for managing the device itself / getting to the apps. i.e. on mynode you can go to http://mynode.local and log in and click on RTL or you can save a step and just go to http://mynode.local:3000

But for doing other management tasks, checking on the status of the device having a GUI is great.
raspiblitz relies on a text interface though SSH or the screen (that I did not install)
Not saying not having it is *bad*, but clicking a web gui and then just 1 button to regenerate / reconfigure something is just nice for us lazy people.

-Dave

[DaveF]

So the fan in one of my Argon cases just went bad. I bought the case on Amazon, and just sent Argon a message through them. Let's see how their customer service is. Yes it's a generic fan that they use and I do have a few of them sitting around, but I want to see how they handle the issue.
Got the case July 26th, had it built and running a day or two later so it lasted a little under 4 months

Edit: They contacted me through Amazon today (the 22nd) and said they would ship a new fan. Will update when it arrives.
Edit #2: Got the tracking number (24-Nov)
Edit #3: Got the fan board in yesterday Dec 10 2021. it was shipped from China to the US in a padded envelope...that looks like it was run over by a truck. Not even going to bother installing it, just going to order one from Amazon and call it a day.

-Dave

[n0nce]

~

Sad to hear! While we're at it: is the fan loud at all or not too much? Never wondered about that, even though I considered getting that case a few times. In case the stock fan was loud & distracting anyway, it might be a good idea to directly get something better along with it, since it appears to be made of subpar quality.

[DaveF]

When it was good the fan was just about inaudible. But when it want bad it went quickly and loudly.               

The case itself is a big metal heat-sink so you really don't need it.

But, if it's there and goes bad it's noisy as hell. If it kind of goes bad, and does not spin fast enough the driver spits out errors about it.
I finally just puled the fan and uninstalled the drivers. Never gets hot during normal use, I think it might get a bit worm during initial sync but that would be about it.

-Dave                     

[dkbit98]

Sad to hear! While we're at it: is the fan loud at all or not too much? Never wondered about that, even though I considered getting that case a few times. In case the stock fan was loud & distracting anyway, it might be a good idea to directly get something better along with it, since it appears to be made of subpar quality.

I don't know what exact model of Argon Dave has, but I think it's overpriced case for Rpi, and I seen other full metal cases that are cheaper than $80.
If after four months you get dead fan than you are sure something is not good.

The case itself is a big metal heat-sink so you really don't need it.

Is Raspberry Pi4 or Rpi3 device inside Argon case, and did you ever checked the temperatures before and after because it can got hot sometimes, especially in summertime and if there is no ventilation.
I noticed drastic change and reduction of temperature for Raspberry Pi400 just because they have huge metal passive cooling.
I prefer silent and no-noise setup, and I would probably remove the fan myself  

[DaveF]

Sad to hear! While we're at it: is the fan loud at all or not too much? Never wondered about that, even though I considered getting that case a few times. In case the stock fan was loud & distracting anyway, it might be a good idea to directly get something better along with it, since it appears to be made of subpar quality.

I don't know what exact model of Argon Dave has, but I think it's overpriced case for Rpi, and I seen other full metal cases that are cheaper than $80.
If after four months you get dead fan than you are sure something is not good.

It's this one: https://www.argon40.com/argon-one-v-2-case-for-raspberry-pi-5.html
$25 for a full metal case with fan and the board with full size HDMI
As I said, you don't need the fan when running it as a node. It might just need it when doing the initial sync, but even without it now, it's fine.

Is Raspberry Pi4 or Rpi3 device inside Argon case, and did you ever checked the temperatures before and after because it can got hot sometimes, especially in summertime and if there is no ventilation.
I noticed drastic change and reduction of temperature for Raspberry Pi400 just because they have huge metal passive cooling.
I prefer silent and no-noise setup, and I would probably remove the fan myself 

It's a RPi4 inside. You can disable the fan in software.
I prefer to have the fan and not need it / use it but I understand not wanting one as it is just one more thing to go wrong.

-Dave

[dkbit98]

$25 for a full metal case with fan and the board with full size HDMI

That is not a bad price for full metal case at all, considering that original case is $5 and you don't need to buy micro-HDMI to HDMI cable for this case.
What I would like to see for Raspberry Pi and their cases is support for simple SSD drive installation including M.2 drives, and not doing that with USB connection or converters.
I saw some clones and alternatives for Raspberry that have this support, and one guy (mfolejewski aka Mirko_electronics) created something similar called BitPiRat.
Gen1 is done, he is now working on Gen2 with passive cooling... worth checking out this project that has specific purpose for running Bitcoin node  


https://hackaday.io/project/179571-bitpirat-computer-gen1
Gen1: https://github.com/mfolejewski/BitPiRat
Gen2: https://github.com/mfolejewski/BitPiRat-GEN-2.0

PS
Enclosures STL files available for printing, so it can be fully In a Box