so, you're a new nostrich that's graduated out of #introductions and now you're looking to learn a bit more about relays. did you know that you can run your own relay? this mediumly simple task allows you to harness the true power of nostr by putting you in charge of your social graph. what exactly does that mean? it just means that you'll be able to control your social data - your notes, your contacts, your events, all of it. this prevents you from being rugged or censored. this puts you in control. pretty cool, eh? you have several options and i'll list a few of them here for you: if you're a bitcoiner, you may be running a "node" at home. if this is the case, then you already have some of the tools available to you. umbrel, mynode, and start9 all offer one click to install solutions for nostr relays. umbrel: https://w3.do/ScRzQT2U mynode: https://w3.do/1yPlc3RX start9: https://w3.do/-GL2ifVz if you don't have a node or aren't running one of the above platforms, you can get started by installing these operating systems on existing hardware - from used computers, to used laptops, to newly built machines or even raspberry pis. if you have dedicated hardware and you're a bit on the tech savvy side, you can go a tiny bit deeper and manually install your nostr relay. you can choose between several relay implementations here, such as nostream or strfry. nostream: https://w3.do/1E07DCyf strfry: https://w3.do/7kKoYwtl if you don't have dedicated hardware at home and you're a bit tech savvy, then you'll surely know that you can also buy a virtual server on a cloud provider's infrastructure. the options of providers here are nearly endless. if all of this seems like a different language for you and seems over your head, but you still want to run a personal relay for yourself, your family, or your local community, have no fear, a solution still exists for you. you can visit a dedicated relay provider and purchase a relay with just a few clicks of a mouse button. Relaying: https://w3.do/FqvChHmV do you have to run a relay? no! you do not! this is a task that isn't for everyone. this is only for those that want to be sovereign over their own social data. if you have any questions, feel free to ask here and either myself or another knowledgeable nostrich will help out.