Hi
I am wondering this:
When a lightning channel is set up between to parties - and those two parties transact while channel is open. What happens if the lightning nodes have a catastrophic unrecoverable failure - those transactions are not comitted to the blockchain yet - so are they lost if the nodes crash?
Surely this can not be the case - but can you explain why the transactions are not lost?
The channels would eventually settle, but this would pose a threat to the failed node to get his funds stolen by the other node. This is the reason why watchdogs are implemented that close the channel when one node is offline and the other node intends to close the channel to with a transaction that is in his benefit.
Also if the node runner didn’t backup the keys for the node then his funds are essentially lost.
Ok. Thanks
I would like to setup my own node. Any good links for minimum requirements and setup instructions?
You mean BTCNode or Lightning node in general?
For lightning node you first need to pick an implementation. Most people I think use LND, I’m running c-lightning and there is also eclair. These three are the most common implementations.
For c-lightning its pretty straight forward, you just need to have a running Bitcoin node:
https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning
I mean Lightning - have a full node running.
Why did you choose c-lightning then? Also any thoughts about funding? Meaning what are realistic BTC amount allocated for the node to function?
Personally I choose c-lightning because it is the most standard and light weight implementation. LND for example has additional features that makes it more user friendly.
There is also MyNode that I know a @Fabrice is running and is very happy with it. Its a UI that lets you setup a Full node, Lightning node and other services, including BTCpay on a Raspberry PI.
To open a channel you need at least 10k sats plus tx fee. You can do some things with that funds, like feed chicken on PolloFeed, but obviously the more funds you have in your channels, more will you be able to use it. 
Ok thanks mate.
When you say user friendly does that mean more easy to set up?
Yes and also has other features that make it easier to maintain like self balancing of channels for example.
Great thanks for your ongoing help