There has been a lot of focus on building cheap and efficient Bitcoin nodes over the past few months. A Similar concept is applicable to the Ethereum ecosystem, as a Raspberry Pi 2 can easily become an Ethereum Full Node.
The Raspberry Pi Ethereum Full Node Project
Tiny computers have become a very hot trend in recent years, thanks to the Raspberry Pi in particular. Although the first model is perfectly usable as a media center, the second and third generations of this device have really upped the ante. Moreover, they are very useful to people who want to support the cryptocurrency ecosystem by running a Node.
For Ethereum enthusiasts, all it takes is a Raspberry Pi 2 and a half an hour of time to get things up and running. Once the user has completed all of the steps of this particular guide, they will have Ethereum Geth v1.3x up and running without any issues. Most of these steps should be applicable to more recent versions of Geth as well, though.
Blockchain storage is a grave concern when using a Raspberry Pi as a node, though. Bitcoin users usually attach an external hard disk for this kind of purpose, but Ethereum users can store everything on a microSD card. However, to err on the side of caution, an external USB device might be a better alternative in the long run.
For those users not looking to go through this manual setup process, there are alternative solutions available. EthDev offers a Raspberry Pi installation image which uses ArchLinux for Ethereum node purposes. This particular project uses both Geth and the regular C++ Eth client, giving users the option to choose whichever solution they prefer.
Last but not least, there is the EthEmbedded project, which can be used with oDroid and BeagleBone Black as well. Both Eth and Geth install scripts are provided in these ARM builds, making is easy to deploy them on these tiny computers boards. In the end, true Ethereum enthusiasts have a lot of options to support the ecosystem with a Node, and it does not require a significant investment either.
Source: Raspnode
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