RFP - Run Your Own Zcash Full Node

Hi,
Thanks for approving our proposal. We will keep posting updates on this space about the work we are doing and will post updates in a regular interval.

Once again , thanks for selecting our proposal for funding :heart:

  • Regards
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Hi ,

With the current expansion of the Zcash network’s blockchain , is it feasible to continue with the assumption that smaller node operators can use Raspberry pi to host the the blockchain data. Provided that raspberry pi can use an 2TB SSD at max?
I’m working on the RFP - running your own Zcash full node for creating a plug and play node based on Raspberry pi or any other AARM64 capable processor.I can solve this issue for some time by using a 240GB SSD , but wouldn’t that be putting the future users at a risk?

  • Regards.

Passing this information along, per request:

There exists some concern in the hardware used initially to prototype and future design from. Specifically, the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB board. The upcoming Raspberry Pi 5 boards, with no confirmed release date, are rumored to potentially have 16GB of RAM, but do not intend to substantially upgrade other memory/disk IO ports(eMMC, M.2 NVMe, etc). These are critical IO components, until the disk usage from large transaction loads can be solved with alternative methods, to mitigate usability/robustness issues in future design/development. To be fair, it is still feasible to operate full nodes with these hardware specifications, and likely the best case when primarily considering cost/availability. Additionally, if significant software optimizations can reduce the effects of the large transaction load, this should not limit the future scope of work using Raspberry Pis or other ARM boards.

An example of such a board, with more IO options for mem/disk, can be found here:

As of writing this the default mainnet chain is 150GBs and grows at roughly 1GB+ per day during peak load. The 240GB disk would be filled in about 90 days. This all is fairly worst case estimates given none of these have fee mechanisms considered.

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@dismad posted a fantastic guide that I think compliments this work really well zechub/RaspberryPi4FullNode.md at main · dismad/zechub · GitHub

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whats the status of this now? We need to make this a priority in my opinion

https://www.reddit.com/r/zec/comments/14s89p5/zcash_has_a_decentralization_problem_globally/

We received an update from the grantee last week. He intends to have the project completed by the end of August.

cc: @ahas

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Hi,
I’m in the final phase of prototyping the hardware required for running the zcash node. My grant is for building a device based on Raspberry pi Compute module to run Zcash node. Essentially a plug and play device that will make running a node easy and low cost.
Although I have concerns about using raspberry Pi as the base platform due to stock availability and pricing .

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What about making an executable file similar to MoneroD that can run on windows where user just has to open the exe and get up and running with a click?

ZECWallet is already shipped with zcashd node binary. But I don’t think that users would be willing to keep their system on for 24x7 for the node to keep running on a personal computer that runs windows. Hence the need for a small , portable, plug and play server/machine.

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Just fyi the version that zecwallet ships with is 5.4.2 which released in mid March and will reach EOS halt soon if it hasnt already

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zcashd 5.4.2 EOS halted last month, June 13, 2023.

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Regarding recent events, any plans to switch to zebrad and include lightwalletd server ?

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Any update you can share ahas?

Hi ,
I’ve finished the hardware design for the device. Some modules for the UI is remaining which I’m working on. Sorry for the delays , I tried to switch to Zebrad for better performance , which was a rabbit hole I should’ve avoided. I will update this thread in a few weeks with a prototype.

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Hi,
Pleased to inform that I have demonstrated the UI and webhooks for the device , to the community grants committee members. The webapp currently has the following features

Dashboard for key network stats
Settings page for controlling the device
A wallet page to send and receive Zcash , with qr codes for addresses and txn history

Here are some screenshots from the demo and a picture of the prototype

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Excited for this!!!

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I’ve received the prototype from @ahas. It is currently in the process of syncing to the network.

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Let us know when it finishes. I’m thinking probably at least 3 and a 1/2 more weeks.

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3 1/2 weeks for an initial sync?

Because of the limits of the ARM cpu + network spam?

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Yeah, just a hipshot. The spam is gonna bog down even further but after all that it should be fine.

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