Web3 Pi: Running an Ethereum Node on Raspberry Pi | Robert Mordzon | ETHWarsaw [4]

Hello everyone and thank you for joining this session. My name is Robert Morzone and I am the lead of the web 3 pi. Um today I will show you how to run a full Ethereum node on a raspberry pi and what we have achieved since presenting this project for the first time here one year ago at itso 2024. A few words about myself. Uh I have a background in networking, system programming and electronics.

I've worked uh in different areas but in recent years my main focus has been Ethereum and decentralization. We started uh a web pie project to make Ethereum node simple, efficient and uh accessible to to everyone. Uh let's see the agenda for today. I will start with the problems we are solving. Then I will explain our principles, who can benefit from it and why we choose Raspberry Pi as a hardware platform.

Next, I will work walk through deployment ecosystems and management tools. After that, I will present results from our long-term solo staking test. And finally, I will share uh what's new in web pie uh project. At the end, we'll have time for question and a small giveaway of two welcome boxes. By the way, welcome box is a box which contains uh all components you need, allware components you need uh to build your own ATM node on a Raspberry Pi.

Uh here you have a clear code and uh internet address where you can post your questions. We'll ask uh answer the those questions later. Uh also you have this cover code here on a paper and on the wall. So running your own Ethereum node is powerful but uh has some many buyers. The entry barrier is high.

Setting up and maintaining a note requires technical knowledge that most people just don't have. Traditional hardware is not practical. Uh the servers are are big, noisy, expensive and use too much power for home usage. There is no easy way to safely expose uh your own node as a RPC endpoint. Uh, of course there are clouds providers but they are expensive limited by quotas and um let's say controlled by three party term of service uh and very every request you make uh can be analyzed and raise some concerns about you know privacy.

Remember RPC API is a getaway to Ethereum. Whoever's control your uh endpoint controls how you access the uh blockchain. Web3 Pi is built on three main principles. Independence, it's your hardware, your RPC, node gatekeepers, uh decentralization. Uh every note at home adds resilience to the Ethereum network and ownership.

Uh you are in control of your data and how you interact through uh Ethereum network. Uh who benefits from Web3? First of all, Dub developers, they get an unlimited pay playground uh with without quotas and term of service uh and they can rely on high performance. Uh by the way, local nodes are much faster than internet ones because of the network latency uh accordingly need to use them local. uh operators uh they can run uh multiple nodes behind behind the proxy uh and manage the user access.

Uh crypto power users they gain more priv privacy and security. Uh and finally resource takers uh Raspberry Pi is able to run execution consensus and validator cleans on a single Raspberry Pi 5 at home. So you may wonder why we choose Raspberry Pi as a hardware platform. Uh it's small, quiet, energy efficient. It's used only there's about 10 watts of power.

Uh it's sufferable and available worldwide well known by the on the market for many years. Uh it has a very huge community accessories and well prepared documentation. This all that's all makes it perfect for running 24 per seven um Ethereum node at home. And here you can see how this device looks like. It's really small.

It's quite quiet as I said. Uh you can fit it in any corner at your home. Uh this is the hardware we recommend and validate. Uh, you need a Raspberry Pi 5 with eight or 16 GB of random access memory, two terabytes of fast NVME drive or SSD. Please do not use HDD.

They won't work. Uh, active cool with the official power supply, um, 32 GB micro SD card for the OS image, but you can use uh, Bing directly from the NVME if you like. uh and of course a reliable wired internet connection with unlimited data for the mainet you will need to dollar about one and a half terabytes of data to store uh the blockchain data. Uh if you would like know more we have uh on our website on and documentation uh a full list of compatible hardware uh which is um tested by us so you don't have to uh you know test it by yourself. We wanted uh the deployment process to be as simple as possible.

Uh that's why we created dedicated OS image for Raspberry Pi. Uh it includes fully automated installer uh and step-by-step instructions even the video. Uh together with the tailored documentation and support uh with with this documentation and support we believe uh everyone without deep technical knowledge uh can run your own Ethereum node on Ethereum at home. But uh web repai is not only the OS image and some strips. Uh it is a whole ecosystem of tools.

Of course we have OS image but we have also web repai imager to flash it easily. Uh we have monitoring based on graphana and influx DB. Uh web management tools through cockpit and set of our own plugins. uh web rep which uh gives you ability to export expose your note uh even without public IP and uh N behind N uh transaction firewall to make transactions safer uh an update system uh with our own AP repository and of course documentation guidance discord support and even uh an archive no path at x86 platform Uh this is our desktop application web free pie imager. It's our equivalent of Raspberry Pi Imager.

Uh but dedicated and tailor it to our own needs. Um this also this application is also based on Raspberry Pi Imager. So it's well known, well tested and reliable solution. The most important parameters can be already be set uh at the flashing process. So uh before the system even boots uh this makes the entire pro as simple and smooth uh as as possible in few clicks uh even a beginner can prepare Raspberry Pi with a uh our operating system which makes uh this Raspberry P uh a full node for the node.

Uh but there is the different uh way how you can um flash Raspberry P with our OS system. Very interesting because you even not don't need uh a PC. You can do it with only mouse uh keyboard HDMI HDMI monitor uh internet connection and Raspberry Pi itself. Um when you run this hardware just press left shift during the bot and uh it this trigles the special boot loader which launch Raspberry Pi imager uh software uh as a boot loader. Uh and there is a good news our web pi OS image is already on the official list in that application.

Uh so all you need to do is just to select uh the version of Raspberry Pi. Uh you have to choose uh our OS image and you will find it under o other specific purpose OS. Uh then select the storage. It could be either a micro SD card or NVME drive if you have it. Uh confirm the flashing operation and you you're ready to go.

Uh next the OS image will be downloaded from our uh repo and flashed on the Raspberry Pi storage. When the process is finished, the Raspberry Pi will reboot automatically and uh it start with the new operating system. Uh it's very convenient way to how to flash uh with PI OS image. uh but the only limitation is that uh you cannot set those parameters like in our webyer um so the system will starts with you know default parameters um but in the most of cases that's all you need default parameters are are okay uh this is our uh graphana monitoring panel we designed it from scratch to be lightweight and optimalized for Raspberry built-in metrics um from Ethereum clients can be resource hungry. Uh so we created our own monitoring service uh collecting only those data which we really need.

Uh this way we get clear information about you know CPU status, RAM, dis usage, traffic and uh such a thing without overloading uh this low power device. Uh this part is about uh management and I think here we made some smart decisions. Uh we based it on cockpit project. Cockpit allows you to manage the operating system directly from the web browser. uh and first this is the very big step uh compared to only SH uh SSH uh for nontechnical users it's much easier uh and more you know intuitive second cockpit itself provides a lot of useful functions like system monitoring uh like service management uh terminal over the web uh and you know you can check the logs uh all from the one place uh from the browser Uh but the key point is that we extend the capabilities of cockpit by writing our own plugins dedicated for webiy project.

Uh with those plugins we can run for example our predefinet bash scripts. We can configure the network firewall, manage the transaction firewall, set up web piling uh and even update our application uh all directly in the browser. uh in clear and userfriendly way. Uh for security, we also develop a plug-in that makes it easy uh to enable two factor authentification uh directly inside the cockpit panel uh to to feel to to to give more security. And finally, we introduce web free py link which makes this panner secure accessible to everyone uh around the world uh without needing the public IP address or having access to your router.

Uh so let's see some of our plugins and this is uh web rep which lets you easily create a secure https tunel uh to your node. Um you can choose which ports would you like to to know. Uh this means you can manage uh the node you can access the RPC API from anywhere in a secure and private uh way even behind firewall and n at the bottom of the slide you can see the example of address uh here you have your unique name uh like nickname uh web3i.link link uh and this is your total others. Uh this is a transaction firewall.

One of our unique parts of our ecosystem. The firewall intercepts every transaction uh in the very last moment uh after it has been uh signed by the wallet um but before it was broadcast uh to the network. At this stage the transaction itself cannot be changed anymore but we have ability to stop this to not sending into the at network. This create a final checkpoint a chance chance for ultimate verification before fabrication. Uh with this me with this mechanism we can preview the transaction details compare them against allowing list white list you know contract uh contracts white list and decide whatever you would like to to go it through uh push passes through or or block it.

Yeah. Uh this reduce the risk of the scams fishing attempts and simply user user mistakes. It acts as a safety net for you and other peoples which use your your note. Uh on the left side uh you can see the admin panel on the note side and on the right side you can see user uh panel uh which user see before confir confirming the the transaction inside the browser. Uh transaction firewall can be easily configured to work with metam mask and other uh wallets.

simply change the RPC uh endpoint to the firewall proxy address to route the transaction through the control system. Uh if you are interested more uh you can read very detailed article on our blog on our website uh about transaction firewall. Uh and let me show about uh let me show our results uh from long-term staking test which we conduct. Uh we started this test before we launched um to answer a very a very very simple question. Uh it is Raspberry Pi powerful enough to be a validator on Ethereum network and if yes how many validators can it handle at the same time?

We begin with just a single validator. Then we gradually add more and more and in this way we reach 200 validators uh running on Raspberry Pi 5. We don't know what is the absolute upper limit. Uh but running 2000 validators on a a small device is already an impressive result. The test began was about a a year ago before the last it wars so uh and it's still running uh stably.

The atestation effect uh effectiveness is around 99 uh8%. Uh that means the nodes performs almost every duty. Uh the effective API is uh 3.34 uh% which is comparable to professional server grade setups. So in terms of performance and stability, the Raspberry Pi shows results at the same the same level as much bigger uh professional grade expensive machines.

Uh and if you want to see more details again we have very detailed uh article on that about that on our blog uh you can find it on our website. Uh yeah, you rise your hand. If you have question, let's uh keep on to the to the end. Yeah, over the last uh year we have introduced a var uh new features uh the web free pie imager for the uh easier flashing and update system uh with our own AP repository. uh extended monitoring dashboards, web based management with cockpit, uh web free link and transaction firewall improvements, two factor authentification, and of course refreshed website and documentation.

Uh this is how our new website looks like. Uh I think it's much clearer, faster, modern, and easier to navigate. We put a lot of effort uh uh for for the new website and documentation to be you know uh easy understandable. Uh it also navigates um it it also integrates our documentation uh and guides so new users can get start really really quickly. Uh so we also worked on um let's say research uh and hardware paths.

Uh we created a proof of concept of running Ethereum nodes on risk 5 architecture. Uh possibly the first ones uh to ever do it. Uh our code changes have been already merged um upstream into lighthouse. So these popular Ethereum clients can now uh compile uh to run and run on risk file architecture uh out of the box. Uh we also uh explore our hive nodes on small uh x86 uh mini PC.

Uh it's different platform but still uh in the manner of web pi so small low power low energy efficient. We published guidance for and best practices uh how to use UPS system with Raspberry Pi. Uh and we testing the automatic van failover uh to achieve better resil results. So let me briefly show uh how easy is webi deployment. First you need to download our or image.

Second have to flash it on the make micro SD card using our web pi imager. Uh uh I will explain this uh but uh let let me finish this slide. uh you need to assemble your hardware with uh two terabyte u NVME or SSD uh drive and um then you just have to power uh Raspberry Pi and the automated installer will uh install all the host software you need automatically and after that also automatically the synchronization of blockchain will start automatically and uh about your your question uh you need to double down where's about one and a half terabytes of data uh of blockchain states. It took uh some time depending on on your uh internet connection and it also depends of the power of the Raspberry Pi because uh at the some point you are not only landing but also processing those dogs. Uh it took it just took time.

There are some other clients that can do that faster but they need more CPU power, more uh RAM uh memory. Uh we have some limited resources here and we use GF and Nimbus or Lighthouse. Uh those pairs took need 19 hours to fully synchronize full Ethereum node on mainet. Uh so thank you for the attention. Uh I'm happy now to take your question.

one already was answered. Uh and don't forget we'll also pick giveaway winners right now. Uh again here you have the query codes and the question are posted by your mobile phones or laptops online. Uh let me switch to them. No we only focus on Ethereum network only Ethereum.

Okay. So we have some questions. Uh the first time with Ethereum Foundation plans to shark def mainet uh in the future. Do you have any insights on how or even does real time providing works currently on Raspberry Pi 5 with the able to verify ZK snark proof in uh 12 seconds of Windows? Uh I think the question is about uh is it handle is is it Raspberry Pi uh capable of handling this uh because of the per performance we really see.

I would like to know that. Um I I don't I don't have any way to test it right can ask for that. But with Raspberry Pi 5, we have a lot of quite a lot of space in case of performance. Uh after the node is fully synchronized. Uh the CPU usage is like 60 maybe 40 even total power.

Um so possibly it could be pos That's good. Yeah, I cannot I can I can tell you for sure. Uh we will see. Uh but basically the project uh right now is based on Raspberry Pi 5, but maybe in couple months we will have Raspberry Raspberry Pi 6. uh and you know then we also have another half of performance uh in that new version.

Okay, so let me move to the next one. We have uh like four minutes. What is the relative performance compared to common nodes in terms of throw food and latency? And we make a lot of uh benchmarks uh and what's the best the performance is really really high. We can uh we achieve like um tens of miles uh requests uh for example per day.

Um in most of times it is it is much more than developer for example can need. uh but if it is not enough to you we have also a proxy solution where you can uh put let's say number of uh these nodes uh connect this to the to our proxy and the proxer uh load balance the uh traffic to different the different nodes so it's quite fable solution uh do all the nodes keep I have data or it has to be separated node uh no Those nodes nodes have only two terabytes of u drive and do not store archive data. But as I said on previous slides, we also have a solution for that. We have uh slightly bigger device. Uh it's based on Intel N 305 CPU.

Uh it has 48 GB of memory and NVME drive 4 terabyte. Uh then we on that on top of that we install uh argon and on argon with chaplin uh we we synchronize quite quickly because uh under uh 24 hours uh for a highive node uh on device which is also um same type so small uh quiet and energy energy efficient and also I think aferable. Uh okay we have like two minutes uh probably we have to give uh this this room to to the another uh speaker. So thank you very much uh for the attention and to close let me repeat the main message. Uh web repai makes a node deployment easy.

So tiny box big web free thank you very much. So, we have uh two welcome boxes to give away. Uh and let's say the first two questions who win the uh the welcome box. Uh is it fair? you are the first and uh am I okay for those who also want uh uh I will at the moment I will give you uh for those who want also uh the welcome boxes uh if you have really good idea what to do with this those welcome boxes just write me an message through our contact form on our websites maybe I will be uh able to give you for free that welcome box uh by you know post.

Thank you.