NulNetLightning node on a stable VPS IP
LND or Core Lightning on an IP that never rotates: routing uptime is channel uptime. Hosting settles on-chain in BTC or USDT, not over Lightning.
长文正文为英文。页头、目录与结账已翻译。
What people actually run
Lightning Labs documentation and Core Lightning are the two mainstream daemons, each with a bitcoind (or neutrino/equivalent) behind it, and each needing an address that does not rotate — channel peers memorize your endpoint, and every change costs routing while the graph relearns it. One billing rule keeps new operators out of trouble: the hosting invoice settles on-chain, so never send Lightning to the BTC invoice address.
VPS from $3* (fund $50+), storage 1–5 TB NVMe from $24/mo annual-eff, dedicated with IPMI from $30.80/mo. Crypto invoice, no KYC.
Launch nowPlaybook
- Warden to start. Dedicated when channel state should not share a noisy neighbour.
- Follow Lightning Labs documentation or Core Lightning. Keep the backend on NVMe.
- Hosting bill: on-chain BTC or USDT.
Sizing and uptime economics
A routing node is always-on, so the tier math is about state, not spikes: Warden (6 vCPU / 16 GB / 240 GB NVMe, $19.00 list, $15.20 annual-eff) handles a healthy node; when channel state and wallet keys justify isolation, dedicated metal from $30.80/mo annual-eff removes the neighbour variable entirely. Snapshots of the node directory go to the NVMe storage ladder so a dead disk becomes a restore, not a force-close of every channel. ECC RAM on every SKU guards the DB; sixteen coins settle the invoice, and no KYC step exists anywhere in the flow.
Limits
A Lightning node is an allowed workload; attacking peers, channel jamming tooling or scanning ranges from the box are not. The host rents the VM and the stable IP — node operation, backups and key custody stay entirely yours.
Can I pay the hosting bill over Lightning?
Not yet — invoices settle on-chain in BTC, or in USDT when the bill should stay dollar-stable. Keep sats for channels, not for the host.
Can bitcoind run nested on the same VPS?
Yes, on every tier — nested virtualization is enabled if you isolate the backend in a VM, though most operators run both daemons directly on the host.
Does the IP really stay stable?
Yes. Each VPS carries its IPv4 and /64 for its lifetime, and unmetered ports mean gossip traffic never meets a quota.
What happens after a disk failure?
What you made of it: with channel state backed up off-box, the restore path is reinstall, restore, rescan — the reason the snapshot habit matters more on Lightning than on most workloads.
Ready to launch?
Build the box — VPS, storage or bare metal — create the password, pay the invoice that follows.