Mining SIA on hard drives: equipment, setup

Users have long been interested in alternative mining methods. The first to occupy this niche back in 2014 were the developers of Burstcoin, a cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology with a PoC (Proof-of-Capacity) algorithm, which requires the use of free space on the HDD for the system to function.

Currently, four more cryptocurrencies can be mined on hard drives:

SiaCoin;
Storj;
Filecoin;
Chia.

Figure 1. Mining Sia on a home laptop

Advantages of mining Siacoin SC on HDD:

relatively low cost of capital equipment;
low requirements for other components - processor and video card;
low energy consumption;
minimal heat generation;
compactness of devices;
ease of assembly and configuration.

But there are also negative aspects - the service life of hard drives is significantly lower, and, accordingly, their liquidity in case of need to replace old equipment with new one. Also, the reward for this type of mining is lower, as is the cost of the mined cryptocurrencies.

Helpful advice: when choosing a disk for mining, look not only at its capacity, but also at the resource for rewriting - the higher the indicator, the longer the device will last.

Mining Sia coin: GPU or HDD

The Sia platform is a kind of hybrid of Burst and Storj properties. It combines the offer of renting space in cloud storage with the ability to use free space on users’ hard drives. To pay for services and pay out rewards, the platform uses the SiaCoin (SC) cryptocurrency. It runs on its own blockchain and uses two consensus algorithms – PoW and PoC.

Important! Sia coin uses the BLAKE2 hashing function, which allows you to use the same mining equipment as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and others.

Figure 2. BLAKE hashing process

At the center of the Sia ecosystem is Skynet, a decentralized hosting for data exchange and application placement with the possibility of monetization, which is positioned as an analogue of Web3.

The profitability of this method will help you calculate the Sia Coin mining calculator:

red-miner.com;
bitmakler.com;
profit-mine.com;
coincalculators.io;
whattomine.com.

Another way to obtain SC crypto coins is by mining sia on hard drives, which ensures the functioning of the cloud storage functionality. It is attractive to investors because it requires minimal initial financial investment and knowledge.

You can study market prices for providing storage at siastats.info.

How cloud storage works

The Siacoin network has two groups of participants. The first are buyers who want to store their files, and the second are space providers who provide storage space in exchange for payment in SC tokens.

Prices on the network are determined by the second group of participants, so Siacoin represents a competitive platform for ideal pricing for end consumers.

When a user posts files on the Siacoin network, they are first encrypted and then broken into a large number of small fragments. These blocks are then distributed across the network in encrypted form to achieve a high level of confidentiality.

Files are split into a large number of fragments, so none of the users providing their disk space for storing them owns a sufficient part of them. This prevents them from using the stored information for personal gain.

File fragments are stored redundantly, so that if one of the storage sellers decides to leave the network, customers do not face permanent loss of stored data.

The file storage mechanism is based on a distributed mechanism that increases the speed of the network. This is similar to how BitTorrent works. The more nodes there are on the network, the faster the download speed.

Users who place their files online for storage incur a monthly fee for the services provided to them, as well as a fee when reloading the data.

What you need to mine SiaCoin on HDD

Unlike the usual mining of cryptocurrencies using video cards, which is not effective solo and requires combining user equipment into a mining pool, mining SiaCoin on HDD does not require merging capacities. Each hard drive is added separately and operates independently of the others. To create a small farm you will not need either a separate room or a particularly powerful electrical network.

Hard drives on which you can mine SiaCoin come in a wide price range depending on the size.
Table 1. HDD and prices.

Name	Size	Price	Cost 1 GB
Western Digital 18TB WD Gold Enterprise Class	18 TB	785 euros	0.044 euro
Seagate IronWolf ST12000VN0007	12 TB	450 euros	0.037 euro
WD Gold WD121KRYZ	12 TB	420 euros	0.035 euro
Seagate Barracuda Pro 7200 ST12000DM0007	12 TB	380 euros	0.032 euros
Toshiba X300 High-Performance	5 TB	130 euros	0.026 euro
Seagate Skyhawk ST6000VX0023	6 TB	200 euros	0.033 euro
Seagate Archive HDD ST8000AS0002	8 TB	225 euros	0.028 euro
Seagate Skyhawk ST8000VX0022	8 TB	260 euros	0.032 euros
Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E680	500 GB	30 euros	0.06 euro
Toshiba P300 HDWD110UZSVA	1 TB	34 euros	0.034 euro

Figure 3. WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA HDD
When choosing a HDD for mining, you need to pay attention to its technical characteristics, compatibility with the processor and video card. The energy consumption of all hard drives is almost the same; during use it ranges from 5 to 30 Watts, depending on the rotation speed, and in standby mode – up to 1 Watt.

The main requirement for the device is a warranty from the manufacturer. Hard drives already have a limited service life - about 10,000 hours, so it is especially important to protect against at least premature failure.

There is no point in using SSD drives; this significantly increases the cost of purchasing equipment. The best option is a regular HDD with a SATA interface.

Peculiarities

On the Sia crypto platform, anyone can buy space to store their data, or sell their own unused resources.

Before it gets into anyone's hands, the client file is divided into 30 particles, which are shared among the network hosts.

This ensures that the data does not go to just one person.

Each particle is created using Reed-Solomon technology, which is often used to record information on CDs and DVDs.

It allows you to write data in such a way that 10 out of thirty particles can completely restore the entire file.

That is, even if 20 out of 30 network hosts break down or lose data, the original file can still be recovered.

All files are encrypted to maintain confidentiality. To do this, Sia uses the Twofish algorithm.

All interaction between the storage tenant and the landlord occurs through smart contracts. They work completely automatically, eliminating the need for intermediaries.

Siacoin cryptocurrency is used for payments. In this case, the lessor, providing his memory for use, makes a mandatory deposit in cryptocurrency.

Until the end of the contract, this deposit is stored in the blockchain, which encourages users to fulfill their obligations.

Typically, the validity period of a smart contract does not exceed 90 days, but if necessary, they are extended automatically. The landlord himself must still confirm that the data was stored on his PC before receiving payment. This is called Proof of Storage. This is done through Merkle Tree technology, which allows you to prove that one smaller file is part of a larger one.

How to set up SiaCoin mining on your hard drive: instructions

To start mining Sia on the free space of your HDDs, you need to:

Download from the official website in the “Core Software” section a SiaUi wallet suitable for the operating system installed on your computer – Windows, macOS or Linux.

Figure 4. Download the wallet from the official website
Unpack the downloaded archive and run the sia-ui.exe file. The application does not require installation, so for ease of further use, you can place a shortcut to this file on your desktop.
Download the Sia blockchain - after the first launch, the program will be synchronized, the final size of the downloaded files will be about 6 GB. Information about the download progress is displayed at the top right of the application window.
Important! To save time downloading the blockchain, you need: for Windows:
download the consensus.db database file and replace the existing one on drive C in the system folder Sia-UI\sia\consensus;
for Linux:
download the consensus.db database file and replace the existing one in the $HOME/.config/Sia-UI/sia/consensus/consensus.db folder;
for Mac:
download the consensus.db database file and replace the existing one in the $HOME/Library/Application Support/Sia-UI/sia/consensus folder.
Create a Sia wallet to which the received coins will be credited. To do this, you need to go to the Wallet section, select Create a new wallet, then save the seed key to the wallet and password proposed by the system.

Figure 5. Creating an address, seed and password
Generate an address to receive coins and, after synchronization is completed, top up your account with at least 2,000 SC (about $50) - this is necessary to place your equipment in the database. You can buy Siacoin coins on one of the exchanges recommended by the development team:
- Binance;
Shapeshift;
Poloniex;
Crypto.com;
SevenB;
Upbit.

Typically the transaction takes about 10 minutes.

Figure 6. Request to top up your balance

Specify the folder on your computer that will be transferred to the system for storing tenant data, its size and your prices for the provision of these services. To do this, you need to go to the Hosting section. The minimum allowable size of the provided space is 35 GB, recommended prices are from 50 SC for servicing 1 TB of space, from 200 SC per month for 1 TB, from 10 SC for using an Internet channel. A calculator will help you calculate how much such Siacoin mining will bring. You also need to configure the maximum duration of hard drive usage and the ability to accept contracts.

Figure 7. Cost setting
Real prices are higher. As of June 2022, they average 285 SC per month for 1 TB and 13 SC for using the Internet channel. Details can be found at SiaStats.info.

Figure 8. Pricing in the Sia storage market.
Announce your new host so that network users know about it and it becomes available for use. To do this, click the Announce button in the upper right corner. A small amount of coins will be debited from your account one-time as payment for network services. Once clients rent the provided space, SiaCoin will be debited from the landlord's account as a deposit. They will return at the end of the contract if obligations are fulfilled and client information is kept safe.
Important! Uptime of HDD provided for rental must be at least 95%.
If problems occur, you need to check your router settings. The system accesses the HDD through port 9982, which must be open on the lessor's side. You can check the availability of your node on the Sia-Hub map.

Unexpected decision to include a crypto asset on the list

The crypto community was surprised by the news, although various rumors circulated around this event.

The platform posted an unusual post, which does not provide any explanation at all as to the reasons for including the asset in the list of traded instruments.

“Welcome to the Binance community! The exchange will open trading for SC/BNB, SC/BTC and SC/ETH trading pairs on 06/14/2018, starting at 11:00 (UTC). Clients are now able to fund their SC account in preparation for trading.”

Income from mining SC cryptocurrency

For approximate calculations of profitability, you need to take average values:

the cost of 1 TB of equipment is $35;
the cost of 1 kW of electricity is 0.05 dollars;
the total cost for 1 TB of provided equipment, including maintenance and traffic, is 470 SC (about $5.90 at the rate of 1 SC = 0.013 USD).

Obviously, with 100% employment and such a cost of equipment, the payback period will be at least 8-9 months. That is, by initially investing $1,000 in the purchase of HDD drives (about 30 TB of space), under ideal conditions you can receive up to $120 in profit monthly. On average, 1 TB of hard drive memory consumes 8 W per hour, which is 6 KW or $0.3 per month. For a small farm with 30 TB, this amount will be about $10. The SC rate has remained mostly at $0.002 since launch, indicating additional risks when investing in Sia mining on HD.

Figure 9. Market dynamics of SiaCoin

Price and capitalization

After its inception, the cost of SC barely reached $0.0001. Capitalization reached a maximum of $10 million. This trend changed in 2022.

Since the beginning of the year, the SC rate, along with capitalization, has gone up . By the end of 2022, the cryptocurrency was already worth $0.03, and capitalization reached $952 million.

SC experienced its absolute peak on January 6, 2022. Then the rate jumped to $0.93. Capitalization grew to almost $3 billion.

But after that, a correction occurred, causing the SC price to drop almost to the starting price. At the moment, the price of SC is around $0.01, and the capitalization is estimated at $348 million.

Prospects for HDD mining on the Sia platform

The plans of the SiaCoin development team include taking a leading position among companies providing a decentralized service for storing files in the cloud, displacing such giants as Dropbox, AWS Amazon, Google Disk, Microsoft OneDrive. Users from anywhere in the world will be able to access their files without worrying about their confidentiality, integrity and security.

The implementation of such a large-scale idea is impossible without a sufficient amount of decentralized capacity for data storage and file exchange. This is where Sia struggles: the number of storage users is around 500. The total provisioned volume is 3.2 PB, of which about 1 PB is used. For comparison: the volume of rare distributions in individual storages of the RuTracker website is 2.5 PB.

According to SiaSetup developers, who have separated from the main Sia team, Sia hosting is on the verge of failure. The accounting is broken - due to “artifacts”, expected income and the number of contracts are artificially growing, and they can only be adjusted with the relaunch of Sia. But restarting is dangerous due to bugs in the database software.

As interest in decentralized cloud storage grows and SiaCoin's bugs are resolved, the demand for storage space, and therefore its cost, will increase. This will also be reflected in the rate of the SC cryptocurrency, which is used to pay for platform services. At the current stage, investing in Sia hard drive mining remains a controversial investment.

History of the SiaCoin project. 10,000 Siafund coins

The idea of creating a decentralized platform for cloud data storage was conceived by the developers of the Sia company back in 2013, and in 2015 the SiaCoin cryptocurrency already began to be sold on the Poloniex exchange.

At the very beginning, this project, like all others, required initial investment investments to realize all its ideas. However, the developers did not want to conduct a full-fledged ICO to raise funds, since this would require distributing the lion's share of SiaCoin digital assets at a reduced price among a huge number of investors.

And the creators of Sia found a very interesting solution to this situation. They separately created 10,000 special coins called “Siafund” for those few investors who decide to invest their money in this project. These coins provide a huge advantage to those who store these coins in their electronic wallet. They give their owner the right to receive a profit of 3.9% of the entire mining reward of the SiaCoin network. At the very beginning, when no one needed the Sia company and was very cheap, these few percent brought virtually no profit to Siafund investors. However, at this stage, when SiaCoin is gaining momentum and price, this 3.9% allows you to get a huge passive profit due to the fact that more and more miners begin to mine this coin.

In general, with such a non-standard solution to create a separate issue of Siafund coins for investors, the developers found their first investment amounts to implement their ideas.

Adviсe

Before you start mining Siacoin, please note the following:

Heat: Mining Siacoin units puts significant strain on your graphics card and can shorten its lifespan. Check your GPU temperature regularly to make sure mining isn't pushing it to the limit.
Taxes: In many countries, income from cryptocurrency mining is subject to taxation. If you convert your earnings into monetary units on large exchanges like Coinbase or Gemini, keep in mind that when you officially contact the tax office, they will be required to provide information about your financial transactions.
Electricity Costs: Your graphics card uses more electricity when mining Siacoin than when performing standard operations like running games or displaying websites. Therefore, when calculating your potential mining income, be sure to take into account energy costs.

Hosting as a means of earning Siacoin

There is another way to earn Siacoin units – by providing free space on your hard drive. This industry of earning Siacoin is not yet very popular, since hosting is usually used by advanced users.

Binance Menu Overview

All main menu items are located on the top dark panel.

You can check your account balance at any time by clicking on the funds i balance . There on the summary page you will find buttons next to each crypto deposit , withdraw , trade . You can also access the deposit and withdrawal window directly from the Funds tab, like in the Binance cryptocurrency deposit example described above.

Clicking on the dummy number will display the total account balance expressed in BTC equivalent. By clicking on the account name we will go to the main settings. You can change your password here, connect a fee payment method using BNB tokens , set up authorization via SMS and Google Authenticator. Login history is also available.

Account verification on Binance is optional. The daily withdrawal limit from an unverified account is Bitcoin 2.

Of course, you will quickly find all the necessary functions here. After all, Binance is considered the best cryptocurrency exchange in the world!

Happy investment!

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Where can I buy

SC's daily trading volume exceeds $3 million. Almost all transactions involving SC are concluded on two exchanges – Bittrex and UpBit.

On these exchanges, Siacoin is most often exchanged for bitcoin.

However, exchanges do not allow you to exchange Siacoin for fiat. Sia is also not represented in exchangers.

Therefore, before you buy SC, you will have to acquire another cryptocurrency on the exchanges and exchange it for Sia.

Withdrawal to fiat also takes place only through other cryptocurrencies.