node operator?
They are minimal. I run a node for fun. You can get the necessary software on github, link on the Algorand website. I use an old otherwise useless laptop. If you want to participate in consensus, you can get participation keys, in this case you need to stay online as much as feasible, otherwise you hurt more than you help. Be advised that it is for fun and to improve decentralization, there are NO rewards for participation nodes at this time.
If you have superfast internet, you can apply to become a community relay node. There probably will be a vote to reward those in the future.
Running just a participation node is similar in difficulty (or lack thereof) to running bitcoin core and a bitcoin node. The community relay nodes have rather high hardware and especially broadband requirements.
Обсуждают сегодня