Blockchain in a box: A portable blockchain network implementation on Raspberry Pi's

TL;DR

This paper presents a portable, Raspberry Pi-based Ethereum blockchain prototype that enables easy network setup, visualization, and experimentation, serving educational and research purposes.

Contribution

It introduces a modular, portable blockchain-in-a-box system with a web interface and real-time visualization for Ethereum PoW networks on Raspberry Pi clusters.

Findings

Supports real-time visualization of blockchain state

Enables experimentation with P2P topologies

Facilitates educational demonstrations

Abstract

In this paper we describe a prototype of a blockchain-in-a-box system which allows users to easily bootstrap the whole Ethereum Proof-of-Work (PoW) network running on multiple Raspberry Pi nodes - an inexpensive modular computers. Users are able to orchestrate the whole blockchain network using a single web based interface, for example they are able to set the topology of the peer-to-peer (P2P) connections and control the initialization parameters. Each Raspberry Pi has a screen attached which visualizes current state of local blockchain, allowing users to easily visualize the consensus of the network in real time. We show how this platform can be used to perform experiments on consensus quality while using different P2P topologies. Similar experiments can be used for demonstration purposes in a workshop or other educational settings.