Experiment.
Measure. Improve.
The Nód Glas laboratory is where ideas move beyond theory. This is the experimental space for testing hardware, networking models, resource efficiency and future node architectures.
Build it. Test it.
The laboratory exists to explore ideas that extend beyond the current Node 01 prototype. Some experiments may become part of future Nód Glas nodes; others may simply demonstrate that an approach is impractical.
That distinction is important. The laboratory separates implemented functionality from research and experimentation.
Not every idea needs to become production software. Sometimes the most useful result of an experiment is discovering what should not be built.
Current areas of investigation.
The following areas represent potential experiments and future development paths for the Nód Glas architecture.
Low-Power Node
Investigate whether Node 01 can operate effectively on modest, low-power hardware such as a Raspberry Pi or comparable single-board computer.
RESEARCH TARGETNode-to-Node Communication
Explore how independent Nód Glas nodes could exchange information without requiring every node to depend on a single central application.
FUTURE EXPERIMENTLocal Network Deployment
Investigate deployment within a local network environment, allowing a community node to remain functional even when external internet connectivity is limited.
RESEARCH TARGETResource Benchmarking
Measure CPU, memory, storage and network requirements under controlled conditions and compare different deployment configurations.
BENCHMARKINGContainerised Deployment
Investigate whether containerisation could simplify deployment and replication of independent Node 01 instances.
FUTURE EXPERIMENTSecure Node Networking
Explore secure communication between independent nodes using modern network security technologies and controlled trust relationships.
FUTURE EXPERIMENTResearch follows the same engineering discipline.
Experiments within Nód Glas are intended to follow a simple development cycle rather than relying on assumptions.
Measure the footprint, don’t guess.
One of the longer-term goals of the project is to move from qualitative statements about lightweight computing towards measurable resource comparisons.
Future experiments could measure the actual resource requirements of Node 01 under controlled conditions rather than attempting to estimate environmental impact from software size alone.
Measure processor utilisation during idle operation, authentication, posting and database queries.
Record baseline memory usage and observe changes under increasing application activity.
Examine database growth, application files and network traffic generated during normal operation.
What happens when one node becomes many?
Node 01 currently operates as an individual application. A future research direction is to investigate whether multiple independent nodes could communicate and exchange selected information while retaining local ownership of their own infrastructure.
Important: this diagram represents a future architectural research direction and does not claim that a live peer-to-peer network is currently deployed.
Could yesterday’s hardware run tomorrow’s node?
Low-Power Computing
Investigate whether inexpensive single-board computers, repurposed PCs and other modest hardware could host useful community services without requiring dedicated high-performance infrastructure.
EXPERIMENTALHardware Longevity
Extending the useful life of existing hardware may provide an alternative to replacing devices simply because modern software has become increasingly resource intensive.
SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCHLocal networks, independent nodes.
Nód Glas also provides an opportunity to investigate how community services could operate closer to the people who actually use them.
Future experiments may examine local DNS, secure tunnels, reverse proxies, private network access and controlled node-to-node communication.
Technologies such as WireGuard, Docker and Raspberry Pi-based infrastructure are therefore considered potential research tools rather than components currently required by Node 01.
RESEARCH PRINCIPLE / LOCAL FIRST
A community service should ideally remain useful and maintainable without requiring a large external technology stack. Local infrastructure may provide opportunities for resilience, experimentation and greater community control.
Evidence over assumption.
Where future experiments involve claims about performance, sustainability or network behaviour, measurements should be collected under repeatable conditions wherever practical.
Record the normal operating condition.
Modify the system in a controlled manner.
Collect comparable performance data.
Document the result and determine the next step.
The laboratory is where the next node begins.
Node 01 is the proof that the concept can become a working application. The laboratory provides the space to discover what comes next — through experimentation, measurement, failure, refinement and eventually, implementation.