Raspberry Pi computer and Bitcoin

[jim618]

Gary Rowe and I were discussing recently what Bitcoin software you could run on a Raspberry Pi computer:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

The Model B has:
+ 700 MHz ARM system on a chip
+ 256 MB ram
+ 2 x USB
+ Ethernet
+ WiFi
+ SD card socket
+ Linux
+ Cost = $35

We think we could run MultiBit with a Java runtime on the SD card.
Or a complete copy of the MultiBitMerchant software we are writing (with DynDNS entry settings.).  They would not necessarily run quickly, but we think they would run.

Have a think as to whether your software would run on it and post if you think it would!

:-)

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[garyrowe]

Since it has such a low power consumption and is essentially able to run quietly in the background, it could run bitcoind and act as a full node in the network. That would benefit everyone.

[ovidiusoft]

Since it has such a low power consumption and is essentially able to run quietly in the background, it could run bitcoind and act as a full node in the network. That would benefit everyone.

Unfortunately, parsing the blockchain is resource intensive - both CPU and I/O. Neither of these are the strong points for Raspberry Pi. However, a thin client like Electrum and a touchscreen (or 5-7 inch LCD + a small numeric keyboard) would make it a very nice POS solution.

[grue]

Unfortunately, parsing the blockchain is resource intensive - both CPU and I/O. Neither of these are the strong points for Raspberry Pi. However, a thin client like Electrum and a touchscreen (or 5-7 inch LCD + a small numeric keyboard) would make it a very nice POS solution.

Only during blockchain download/verification, right? for me, it's sitting at 0% cpu utilization.

[ovidiusoft]

Only during blockchain download/verification, right? for me, it's sitting at 0% cpu utilization.

Also on transaction propagation. A dedicated node will maintain tens of connections to the other nodes (my own btcnode.novit.ro has ~150 connections all the time, I've seen as high as 400). At that point, this becomes an issue for a small device like the Pi. I'm not saying it's not doable, but someone running a dedicated node might want to use a different platform and use the Pi for something else.

[mila]

could it be used with FPGA miners?
kind of monitoring them and making sure they're not idling
that would be a killer combination (power consumption point of view)

[ovidiusoft]

could it be used with FPGA miners?
kind of monitoring them and making sure they're not idling
that would be a killer combination (power consumption point of view)

I think so. The whole setup could even be powered by solar power That would be very cool!

[Mushroomized]

could it be used with FPGA miners?
kind of monitoring them and making sure they're not idling
that would be a killer combination (power consumption point of view)

I think so. The whole setup could even be powered by solar power That would be very cool!

And submerged in mineral oil!

[Vernon715]

Sounds pretty cool.