Questions before I plunge into hosting full node validators

Questions/survey for those currently running validators

I am considering running a couple of full validators for Eth 2.0 but before I ape into this I need to DYOR. At present, I don’t particularly like the numbers I am seeing with the profit estimators/calculators I’ve used online. I’d like to pick the brains of those who are currently running full validators, their experiences, their process/hassles/gotchas/wishidaknowns they’ve learned along the way. If you plan to run a validator soon feel free to chime in your research too I’d really appreciate some feedback here before I venture into this endeavor and lock away some liquidity. Ultimately, I want to get a clear picture of the cliff I would be jumping off of. Here are my questions:

What stage are you at in your implementation? Planning/Reseach or currently online/up-and-running?

What has been your overall experience with running a validator?

Would you do it again?

What type(s) of validator do you currently run?

What is the size of your total committed eth to running your validators if I may ask? 1 = 32 eth - 5 => 10,000 eth? Ball park size

What platform might you be using?

AWS/Azure/Other CSP/Self-Hosted? I am considering running with AWS image(s) from the marketplace. Is there something better that you’ve found?

What is your exit strategy if/when you want to bail out of doing this? Your backup plan?

This might not even be a “thing” but I have to ask for posterity, so pardon my ignorance. Are there any full service 3rd party companies, dedicated to managing your footprint soup-to-nuts for full service setup, patching, operations, monitoring etc, that you’ve used?

Who might you recommend?

What might their cost/fees be?

Or if you can provide a link, I can do a comparative CBA of each to get an idea but I wanted to poll here for recommendations.

What has been your realized/actual up-time from their implementation?

How easy is it for you to know exactly the state of your operation?

Do they provide an executive level dashboard?

Are they prompt and responsive to any questions or concerns you might have or do you have to chase someone down to get an actual person who can address issues you might have experienced?

Concerning the security of your operation, has there been any exposures or risks that could have been prevented? How was their response to the issue(s)? Did you experience any losses during this time? What does their SLA look like for you?

In my research I am seeing estimated annual returns between 1.5% - 18% from these online calculators. Is that accurate in your experience?

What is the most accurate estimator you’ve been using to track and plan your commitment level to pursuing or growing your operation? Could you provide a link(s) maybe?

What do you think or where do you see the profitability in 5-10 years of running validator(s)?

What impediments or risks might be involved, losses/gains? Trends you might see as adoption increases?

With the ethereum core dev team, has there been any “surprise” announcements or are they sticking to a set roadmap for full implementation with regard to validator nodes? I know the 2.0 can keeps getting kicked overall but specifically, how far along are they in the maturity of running validators?

What questions have I not asked that are relevant?

I appreciate your input greatly and thank you for your time & consideration. Hopefully this post might help those who are considering a big move like this. There is a lot of money at stake in this venture overall and I just want to get a feel for the risks involved so we can have success in this as a community. If I have asked anything or unknowingly said anything completely off base or if I can clarify any questions please let me know.