Project Title
Stereum
Description
A free, easy to use GUI tool to install / maintain an Ethereum node, using the client of your choice, all in one place.
Manifesto/Vision
The vision of our team is that everyone (families, businesses & institutions) is going to run an Ethereum node in the future to verify on chain data themselves. Our goal is to give the users a base to use the Ethereum Node as their access point, similar to (https://getumbrel.com/#build) & opening up options to use the Ethereum network in so far unimagined capacities.
Problem
The problem we are tackling is that while technically knowledgeable users have no problem interacting with a CLI, for the average person on the street this is not feasible. Most businesses are owned by brilliant people with no experience in the IT industry & no available funds to hire someone in this role. An example would be Pharmacists that know every single ingredient that goes into a medicine, but are too afraid to use Excel sheets. Them choosing an external source in our envisioned future is not in the interest of the Ethereum network.
Solution
To achieve this we are building a SECURE, PRIVACY FOCUSED & easy to use tool in Stereum for the average person to set up and maintain an Ethereum node on the server infrastructure of their choice and to give them, if they wish so, the ability to stake as well. The varied choice of possible clients also makes the network more secure in the sense that well distributed client diversity is necessary to speed up the process of the merge - being able to test all avaiable product clients .
Product Features
An overview of our current feature is available at (https://stereum.net/ethereum-node-setup/). We invite you to try out Stereum yourself, if you should need help, please join our Discord - we can help you out
Automated Upgrades
Stereum checks automatically for new software updates, notifying the user, with the option to apply them unattended.
Encrypted Configuration & Validator Export
Migrate configuration & validators from machine to machine with the simplified Validator Import & Export Function.
Supports advanced Execution Client (ETH1) functionality
Easy to use your own Eth1 node (Geth) and/or use external services (e. g. Infura). Use multiple ETH Execution Client Node URLs as failsafe & sort them priority. If one fails just let the next in line pick up their duty. You can also run your node with an external service from the get go.
SSV
We support Blox’s SSV implementation on testnet Prater in Stereum! Make sure to use a web socket connection as your first Ethereum 1 URL and the normal http Ethereum 1 API URL as second in the url endpoint list when you try it out with your own Stereum Ethereum Node Setup. We also have a verified SSV operator up and running – feel free to try it out by using it with your own Prater testnet validator account! Of course you can run it on Ubuntu as well as on CentOS. The Operator keys are automatically generated on setup.
FAST SYNC for every client
This feature boosts the sync speed significantly. Select it when installing a Stereum Node. On selection the setup downloads a daily updated blockchain database snapshot from our cloud infrastructure to your server and installs it for your node. This reduces sync time of your beacon chain clients significantly and enables users to spin up a fully synced beacon chain client in less than 30 minutes depending on your hardware and bandwidth.
Grafana Support
includes client specific & pre-configured Grafana Dashboards showing e.g. hardware metrics (cpu, memory, disk, …), network participation, etc.
-) Client Distribution Dashboard
includes a pre configured Grafana dashboard with the goal to show the clients of connected peers over time. Collect your own data on the topic of Ethereum Client Diversity!
-) Advanced Key Management Options
- simplified key management options
- voluntary exit through all clients
- drag & drop import of validator keys
- remove specific validator keys from your node.
Task Viewer
We know that the space, despite the community’s best efforts, is riddled with scams, snake oil sellers & rug pulls. To combat this our installer makes it possible for you to trace what tasks the setup is working on in the background and what changes it is implementing to make the configuration process as transparent as possible.
MONITORING APP
A simple privacy focused application for your Android, iOS phone to monitor your Ethereum node from anywhere (a basic version of this is soon to be released). You can already download the app from the Android app store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cloud.stereum.monitor). IOS will soon follow, and with the upcoming version of Stereum it will be usable.
MISCELLANEOUS
- Graffiti configurable for all clients.
- API binding address configurable. Bind the APIs for connecting to geth and beacons to a different address than localhost (127.0.0.1). This allows you to use the client’s api with your own application (bots, block explorers, …).
- Geth prune on demand. Just click a button to free up the disk space geth fills up over time and free up Geth’s clogged database.
Validation
You can validate our efforts so far yourself. We are inviting you to give Stereum a try by setting up an Ubuntu or Cent OS server on the Ethereum testnet yourself (https://stereum.net/ethereum-node-setup/) to see how far we have come. If you need help doing it or have feedback for us, please reach out to us on our Discord server.
Progress
Our last 6 months roadmap for the Ethereum Foundation is currently running out, and we have managed to develop every single goal we have set out to do. Our next one is soon to be announced, as soon as we have had talks with different partners in the ETH staking subsection of the Ethereum ecosphere to bring new staking innovations in the space to Stereum.
Differentiation (from other projects)
There is dApp Node which currently only supports one or two of the available consensus clients. ETH Stakers - Wagyu Installer, which is still early in development and ChainSafe’s Installer, which as far as we know solely focuses on their product line.
Team
Behind the development of Stereum is the RockLogic GmbH. Our project team is made up of 7 people. 4 of which are comfortable sharing their faces (including me - David) at (https://stereum.net/team/)
Grant Request
50k
What the Funds are used for
Gain additional funding for the project to ramp up / secure development & solidify the projects short term future.
Help Requested
Additional help in marketing would be greatly appreciated to accelerate our testing efforts to give the community the software they deserve
Additional Resources, Links, Portfolio
-) website (https://stereum.net/ethereum-node-setup/)
-) GitHub (https://github.com/stereum-dev)
-) YouTube - Stereum Ethereum Node Setup v1.6 | 
| SEPTEMBER 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0SxQWv0S68&ab_channel=Stereum)
(note that this shows the 1.6 version - new video release coming soon)
)