Well the simple answer is, their are lots of options. If you have a pc that you don’t need anymore and meets the specs that would be the easiest way to start. I now have 5 nodes hosted at home and you can possibly add up to 8 with uPnP setup on your router.
Network Requirements
Next in this section, I will discuss internet connection and the router. The current requirement is 25 Mb/s up and down. So if you don’t meet this I would think about maybe using a VPS. I have fibre and get good upload and download speeds.
Also stability of connection is important if you have long or frequent outages this is probably not for you.
The first thing I bought was a new router, the one supplied did not have the uPnP settings easily accessible and ready to set up. So I purchased one.
Setting up a Hypervisor
Lets move on, no matter what you buy in terms of hardware. If you want to set up multiple nodes on 1 device using uPnP you are going to need a Hypervisor. I have already done a post on this which you can check out here.
Flux Node Requirements
In this section lets talk about the hardware requirements, you can see them all on the runonflux site here. But I have given you a breakdown below for cumulus nodes.
As you can see above, the requirements are not to intensive but please note these could change in the future.
Recommended Build – 3 Cumulus Nodes
This is going to be my next build, its close to the $500 mark for 3 nodes. It is also possible upgrade to a Nimbus node later. This is why I prefer a custom PC build. You can upgrade and if anything does break you have replaceable parts.
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My Hardware
Lets move on and discuss hardware. I had a CPU mining PC which I have reused for this. I have used a 3900 x which has plenty of room to spare. You may ask why? short answer is if you want to upgrade node tiers in the future to Stratus its easier not to replace all the equipment because your spec does not meet requirements. So don’t cheap out and go for a base mode if you plan on expanding.
I will add my second rig spec once it has been up for 3 to 6 months with no downtime like the above one. Check out the end result of Rig 1!
Other Hardware Options
If you want to set up a single Node you can try out the Raspberry Pi or Jetson they are both viable options. You may also want to try a mini pc.
Ok, if you want to do your own research, I will give you a breakdown of what I looked for and why. I am presuming you already have a mouse and keyboard you can borrow for setting this up.
- CPU: I looked for price to meet the thread requirements above. Also as you need a motherboard as well, this could drive up price. For a list of confirmed working CPU’s – Click Here
- Motherboard: to use a Hypervisor, you are going to need a motherboard that supports virtualization. You will need to enable this on setup.
- RAM: The thing I would look for is reliability and price, I would not cheap out on this as the machine is going to be on all the time.
- Boot Drive: Again reliability and price are what to look for. I have used the Sabrent ones and given them some real hammer and there all still working.
- PSU: You wont need a 1000 watt PSU, as it probably wont be efficient on the Power Curve. Instead look for something cheaper and again reliable.
- Frame: You can use an old case if you want or a PC case. Mine is open as you can get some RGB, I like the RGB.
- GPU: The cheapest you can get, you only need this for setup.
