Topic says it all. I’d like to begin building and selling certified nodes. Is there a way to become a certified builder?
Is there a process to become a certified node builder?
1 Like
I love that your mention this.
Today I was speaking with a guy around that does also farming, on building and selling the nodes, and the is a spot to make a rb and b with them.
1 Like
Dude that was me buddy
1 Like
At this stage, certification is for Titans only, we do not have a process in place for DIY.
The difference between DIY and certified nodes, aside from hardware origins, is that certified nodes are set to secure boot Zos bootstrap images which have been signed by ThreeFold. Then the BIOS is password protected. Having physical access to nodes also allows verifying keys from the TPM, which could be important to a future iteration of the certification model.
Considering a limited set of upgrade options for a limited amount of nodes sold as certified is more manageable than needing to evaluate full hardware configurations for the breadth of DIY setups.
Ok understood. But I’m thinking a few months into the future. there will certainly be a bottleneck in the availability of certified nodes even greater than the delay that already exists. I can only assume it would be helpful to have a group of certified node builders/suppliers ready to provide hardware to hosts who want to expand the network. I experienced the same bottleneck with Helium and waiting months for a hotspot form the ONE hardware supplier they had at the beginning. It would be nice to anticipate and avoid the coming crunch and also standardize the hardware available to hosts/users. There is a huge pile of surplus but still really usable hardware on the market. Now is the time to validate what hardware will work for the next couple years to get the grid bootstrapped into a situation where it can attract enterprise users and real use cases. In any case here in Azores we will start building geographically protected capacity on the ThreeFold grid with green recycled enterprise grade hardware. Hopefully we will set an example for the rest of the grid going forward.
2 Likes
I’d also recommend contacting @andreaspow (Telegram handle: @ahartl) about this. We are launching a new marketplace soon that will be able to facilitate sales from more vendors.
3 Likes
That’s great because we are looking places to deploy RB and bs for farms here in the islands.
@outermost. Good thinking and I can confirm that the “certified suppliers” has been a topic of discussion for a while. Let’s continue to discuss it here. What would a certified node supplier do, and how is the business model around certification. Size and formfactor (titan being consumer oriented, plug and farm). Yallah!
1 Like
Just catching this topic, as I have been diverted elsewhere lately, but I’d like to throw my(Well, my IT companies) hat into the ring to become a certified supplier. @scott, curious about your marketplace. Maybe we can connect. Or is @andreaspow to whom I need to speak?
Thanks so much and happy farming!
@LongStreetTech Good to hear, let get on a call! Happy to engage on the topic. Would you be available for a vidconf? I can do Thursday or Friday.
1 Like
I think you’ll get the notification @weynandkuijpers since I am replying, but as I am a man of many accounts 
, apparently, and just signed in with the threefold app on this phone, I’ll get a badge or something for my first mention. Thursday would work best for me. What time zone are you? I can accommodate any, but am native US EST. Excited to chat! Glad you saw the thread lit back up and reached out!
-Robert
1 Like
I am GST - EST+8. So if possible somewhere morning for you, that would work best (early evening here).
Sure thing. I can try and do as early as you need to stay out of the way of any evening plans. Just let me know.
Dropped a reply DM or two your way. Don’t want to be annoying, but also want to be the right amount of persistent in case the notification was swamped by others.
Thanks!
maybe we could have a general meeting on this topic? Would also be interested and think we have the same questions 
1 Like
Robert and I spoke - the short version of it is: The marketplace that ThreeFold has built is step 1 towards a decentralised marketplace (this is a central marketplace which invites 3node builders everywhere to present their product).
@jeroenburjs - our update talk is overdue so let’s get together when you have time.
Just to keep this thread updated; there’s now also “The Peking” as certified node available in both North America as well as Europe. More heavier and rewarding machine (approx 650 TFT monthly), great for home, office or school use for instance. Check out the marketplace and fill in your country.
3 Likes