A mining farm is a structure that consists of special equipment aimed at mining cryptocurrency. The main incentive for its owner to create a mining farm is the opportunity to generate income. Profit is generated by finding cryptocurrency blocks that use the]Proof-of-Work[/anchor] algorithm. The most interesting of them are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Grin, Bitcoin Gold, Monero and others. Profit will depend directly on the number of devices on the mining farm and on the cost of its maintenance.
In most cases, large farms operate in warehouses and hangars. If it is a small installation, then the miner can locate it at home.
To determine the equipment, namely its efficiency, miners use special services - calculators. Such resources give an approximate idea of earnings in a certain period of time.
We will talk about which mining farms are best to use, how to install them and how much you can earn from it later in the article.
- What is a mining farm
- Types of farms for mining CPU farms
- GPU farms
- FPGA farms
- ASIC farms
- Accessories for mining farms
- Preparing to install a mining farm
- Grin
- Housing Installation
Content
- What is a Bitcoin farm
- How does a Bitcoin farm work?
- Farms online or cloud mining
- What can you use to build a Bitcoin farm?
- How to create a Bitcoin farm with your own hands
- How much does a bitcoin farm cost?
- Where to buy a ready-made bitcoin farm
- How much does a bitcoin farm earn?
- Bitcoin farm payback
- Pros and cons of a Bitcoin mining farm
- Alternative ways to make money on Bitcoins
- Experts' forecast regarding Bitcoin prices
- What to do with the farm if Bitcoin falls in price
- Conclusion
Configuration
After assembling and connecting the farm, it requires configuration. So, to speed up work you need to disable all unnecessary controllers and connectors in the BIOS. You also need to disable unnecessary services, updates, utilities and even antivirus. He may mistake the miner for malware. This will entail stopping the farm’s operation and Bitcoin earnings.
You also need to register on the pool. Afterwards, create a worker there and download the miner program. It needs to be configured via a bat file (this is done to eliminate the need to constantly enter commands into the console). You can start the miner: cryptocurrency mining has begun.
What is a Bitcoin farm
Against the backdrop of an ongoing wave of interest in bitcoins, many people are actively interested in ways to mine, sell and generally make money on cryptocurrency. One of the most interesting questions is Bitcoin farms. First, let's understand what Bitcoin farms are.
A Bitcoin farm is a technical system that is designed exclusively for cryptocurrency mining.
In other words, a farm is an installation that mines bitcoins. And if you can run a mining program on your computer and then go away to play some game, then this does not work with farms. They are created exclusively for cryptocurrency mining, and they have no other functions.
Cooling system.
In the process of mining cryptocurrency, mining rigs generate a huge amount of heat, which must be removed, otherwise the equipment will quickly burn out. In addition, a general increase in temperature in the room can make it impossible to stay and breathe, and all devices will overheat and stop working. For cooling, you should ensure a distance between video cards of at least 7-8 cm, install floor fans, and, if necessary, install coolers or forced exhaust.
You can assemble a cryptocurrency mining farm yourself if you have experience in connecting electronics and a good technical knowledge base in order to be able to select the right equipment that will be compatible with each other in its parameters and meet the “maximum . This is the only way to count on good returns.
If you do not have such experience, and you are not well versed in the technical characteristics of video cards, motherboards and power supplies, then it is safer to buy a ready-made design, where all the equipment is carefully selected and will bring a decent profit. This option has many advantages:
Even a beginner who does not understand computer technology and the nuances of cryptocurrency mining can start mining.
No time spent on assembly.
Long service life of the equipment, due to the fact that all devices are compatible, well-selected, and have a functioning cooling system.
Availability of accurate data on how much money the farm will bring in, how much electricity it consumes, and how long it will take to pay off.
How does a Bitcoin farm work?
Now a few words about how Bitcoin farms work.
Everything is quite simple here. There is a setup that calculates the mathematical options under which a block of transactions (performed by users within the system) will be successful. And so, after calculating the desired option by searching through all possible ones, the system formalizes all transactions in the block and receives bitcoins for the work. This is how emissions occur, and this is how all farms operate.
The more powerful the equipment, the more options the farm can sort through, and therefore, it has a greater chance of extracting those same bitcoins. Plus, as a reward, miners receive a commission for adding operations to a block.
Before moving on to the next point, we need to tell you why Bitcoin is now so difficult to mine.
Since cue ball is an auto-regulated system with built-in rules, it develops, adapts and changes depending on the situation. And it contains one important fact - the formation time of one block should be approximately 10 minutes.
To put it a little more simply, it looks something like this. All miner installations work to create a block. The more there are, the more options they can go through. This means that as the number of users increases, the system complicates the selection of options so that everything comes down to those cherished 10 minutes.
Since the beginning of 2016, the difficulty of mining bitcoins has increased 10,000 times!
And now to the mining methods.
There are several ways to mine cryptocurrency:
- Use your own equipment and work independently (mining farm).
- Unite with other miners in a pool.
The first method involves the purchase of expensive equipment - ASIC processors. Their cost is much higher than conventional video cards, from which most farms are now made. But only they can now cope with the load and can mine cue balls on their own.
The second method involves the help of services that combine several capacities into one installation and mine cryptocurrency using the most profitable algorithms.
This option helps beginners work with bitcoins and ether even on their home computer, and for professionals it is an opportunity to mine the necessary crypt with minimal investment in equipment.
Profit is divided in proportion to the invested capacity. For example, a home PC with an average video card will get almost nothing, an ordinary farm with a GTX 1070 will get average money.
It makes no sense to force a full-scale farm to work in a pool. You will have to share with the system, but your own business requires some kind of independence. And there is no point in paying commissions either, especially when you can do without them.
Farms online or cloud mining
Around 2015, so-called cloud mining services were opened on the network. In short, this is renting a farm or part of it.
In essence, this process is somewhat similar to mining in a pool, only you do not connect your power, but rent it for money. It's simple, convenient, and most importantly, frees you from the need to look after the farm, pay for electricity and live in constant noise.
Companies that do this are either wholesale suppliers of mining equipment or direct manufacturers. That is, they have a lot of capacity, but they themselves do not want to engage in cryptocurrency, so they offer others to receive part of the equipment for a certain fee.
Quite a convenient and interesting scheme with one drawback - there are no guarantees. You simply pay the company money, and it assigns you some conditional capacity. Looks very much like a scam. But despite this, the leaders of the cloud mining market successfully pay, and those who bought power back in 2015 have been receiving a net profit from their investments for the second year now.
Such online farms are very beneficial for beginners who do not yet have money. The entry threshold is minimal, on some sites it’s only $2. The payback period is the same as in a real farm – about six months. Therefore, if you want to try online mining, but you don’t have the equipment, cloud mining is especially for you.
But it makes no sense to live for a long time on such earnings. It is much more interesting to assemble your own farm.
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This will only be a reward for a solved block. Today it is 12.5 BTC. Every 210 thousand blocks it decreases. The consequence of this was the introduction of transaction fees.
When a new translation is created, information about it goes into the mempool. From there, miners take transactions and begin to verify them:
- does the addressee really have that amount of BTC;
- whether it is using spent transactions.
This process also depends on the use of computing power. Nobody wants to do this for free. Therefore, users pay miners for their work. Thus, using the computing power of the farm, you can earn Bitcoin.
What can you use to build a Bitcoin farm?
We have already touched on this issue a little higher, but we will repeat it.
You can build your own farm:
- From special equipment intended exclusively for mining;
- From ordinary video cards.
Each method has its own specific features. For a full-fledged working farm that can independently mine cryptocurrency, you will need large investments. But the income there is much higher.
The most popular devices for mining Bitcoins, as mentioned earlier, are ASIC processors. They cost from several thousand dollars, but as experts say, the power of such processors is several thousand times greater than a video card farm.
Plus, portable farms for mining Bitcoins are now being created. They look like one monoblock, while combining colossal computing power and small size. But their cost starts from 3 thousand dollars. Not that expensive, especially considering that a good farm for the same ether will cost 2-2.5 thousand.
Farms made from regular video cards can now only work in pools. Since the difficulty is very high, and the whole world is now going crazy about bitcoins and crypto in general. But in order to work in a pool, you don't need a lot of power. The system automatically gathers miners into a large group, in which the probability of receiving bitcoins is extremely high.
Another question is that the “exhaust” from mining bitcoins on video cards is now not very large. Because there is ether, and it turns out to be more profitable. And although mining algorithms are becoming more complex, firstly, not at the same pace, and secondly, in a completely different direction.
It addresses the issue that those who have a lot of ether in their account should be more likely to receive income due to their contribution to the system.
Therefore, if you are seriously thinking about purchasing a farm exclusively for Bitcoin mining, you should only look at special equipment and ASIC processors. Other options like mining on a PC or video cards have their place, but they have much more interesting alternatives like promising cryptocurrencies and ether.
Transactions to the masses
As mentioned above, all translations are possible thanks to the computing power of the equipment. The farm's role in this is key. Moreover, the larger it is, the more important it is for the entire system.
Bitcoin has the highest trading volume of any cryptocurrency. This means that the largest number of transactions pass through its blockchain per day. Because of this, the mempool and network are very congested.
The problem can only be solved by increasing the network hashrate. One or two video cards won't do the job. But a minimal rig of 10 cards or a pair of ASICs, or even better, a room with several such installations, can radically change the situation.
How to create a Bitcoin farm with your own hands
If you want to assemble a farm of video cards in order to mine bitcoins, then this video will help you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=g8U3c6dOZU8
If you work with ASICs, then the situation is much simpler. All you need is a power supply, a computer to which you can connect the installation, and access to electricity.
Working with ASICs is also beneficial because of their simplicity. You don't need practically anything. This is a complete stand-alone installation that runs on power and a computer with the necessary programs. Plus, most manufacturers have consultants who can help you with installation online. Therefore, the process of creating a farm is noticeably easier.
How much does a bitcoin farm cost?
As you understand, farm prices depend on power and components. But we will try to talk about average prices.
ASIC miners start from 3 thousand dollars and above. But cheap models will become obsolete in a year and a half. More expensive ones, from 5-6 thousand, will last 2 or even 3 years. So make your choice based on your finances.
It's easier with regular farms. If bitcoins won’t last, you can always mine ether or promising altcoins. But the average farm now costs 170-180 thousand rubles. A more modern one that will last longer - from 250,000 rubles (prices are valid for farms with 6 video cards).
The most interesting and promising 1080 TI farms will cost from 320 thousand rubles for 4 video cards and all equipment. As you can see, the cost of modern farms is approximately equal to ASICs, but in terms of power and payback, the former win.
The price of Bitcoin farms depends on the rate of the cryptocurrency itself. Therefore, all information on calculations will be relevant until a new jump or drop in value.
Where to buy a ready-made bitcoin farm
If you want to buy a video card farm, then in every major city there is at least one company that supplies ready-made and configured equipment. If you live in the province, you will have to go to the nearest large city and buy equipment there.
You should not buy mining rigs on the secondary market or message boards.
There are several risks:
- Risk of poor quality equipment;
- Risk of deception by the seller.
In both cases, you will simply throw money away, and if you do not back up your purchase with an agreement, then there will be nothing to collect from the seller. And on message boards, people often don’t know the real price of their product, so they put huge prices on something that is already outdated.
For example, a 1050 TI farm, which was morally dead at the beginning of the year, was sold for 200 thousand, although its real cost would not exceed 50. So it is better to work with trusted companies.
As for special equipment for mining Bitcoins, everything is not so simple. There is one popular online store – bitmark.ru. It sells ready-made farms and ASIC miners at prices that are quite reasonable for Russia.
If you want to buy cheaper, it is better to order in Europe or China. But delivery will be long, and you will lose time and profit. Therefore, it is better to overpay a little, but earn money the very next day after purchase.
How much does a bitcoin farm earn?
If you look at calculations from six months ago, you can see that bitcoin farms brought losses up to a rate of $2,000 per unit. This is understandable - a sharp jump in complexity could not help but lead to the fact that production volumes began to fall while the price for electricity remained unchanged. Now the situation is somewhat different.
Average farms now bring in about $50 a day, which translates to $1,500 per month.
The largest farms, which only professional mining companies can boast of, bring in between $300-500 per day. But there are a lot of processors, a cooling system is equipped, and electricity is supplied cheaper than for ordinary users, so income will be significantly higher.
The largest Bitcoin mining farm is now in China and contains several hundred ASIC processors.
Bitcoin farm payback
Now to the question of payback. There is very little reliable information on the Internet about how Bitcoin farms pay off. If everything is clear with ether and video cards - there are periods of six months or more, then with cue balls the situation is more complicated. Few people can afford a full-fledged farm on ASICs, and even fewer people want to do it.
But, if you collect all the calculations, then the payback of a farm on ASICs is much faster. Here you should focus on 100-150 days + the cost of electricity. If we take the CIS countries, where electricity prices are quite low, then the ASIC installation will pay for itself in approximately 130 days +/- exchange rate fluctuations.
A huge advantage of ASICs is that they bring in much more money in the long run. But their main drawback is that they quickly become outdated. Therefore, it would be wrong to say that next year they will bring the same amount. We are dealing with a perishable product that will become obsolete in just a year and cannot be sold.
And if you add the cost of subsequent resale to the payback, then ASICs will lose to video card farms. But right now they will bring in much more money after 1-2 years of active use at full capacity. Given that the prices will be approximately equal, and taking into account the low cost of electricity, electricity can not be taken into account.
It's a different matter if you live in Europe. Electricity is very expensive there, which is why mining is less popular. And according to European realities, the net income from farms on mining processors is almost the same as from farms on video cards.
As a result: in Russia and the CIS the payback period for ASICs is 120-170 days. In Europe – 200+ days.
List of stages to start mining cryptocurrency
What steps need to be completed to start mining cryptocurrency:
- Use a mining calculator (there are many different options online, Whattomine is considered the most reliable). The calculator will help you find out how much earnings you can expect if you have a certain amount of power and taking into account the costs of paying for electricity. Until you are 100% sure that the investment will be profitable, do not start buying or installing anything.
- Buy several video cards or 1-2 ASIC new models with the best ratio of cost and hashrate (performance), as well as high-quality cooling. When purchasing an ASIC, you must choose a device that uses the SHA256 hashing algorithm, which is what Bitcoin runs on.
- Select a suitable location and install the equipment. The room should be cool, with good ventilation, stable electricity and the Internet.
This is in general terms, below we will look at the process of assembling the farm in more detail.
Pros and cons of a Bitcoin mining farm
Now let’s summarize all of the above and list the pros and cons of a bitcoin mining farm. Let's start with the positive.
Pros:
- High income;
- Fast payback;
- Constantly growing market;
- Interest in Bitcoin from leading businessmen and investors.
Minuses:
- Low liquidity. You won't be able to resell the farm for the same money if something goes wrong.
- High risks.
- Complete dependence on the market.
- A Bitcoin farm creates a lot of noise at home.
As you can see, from a financial point of view, a Bitcoin mining farm is a very risky profitable asset.
Payback period
Bitcoin exchange rate change
To calculate when a mining farm will pay off, you need to know 2 parameters:
- Costs for assembly, configuration and electricity.
- Current rate of the mined coin.
Each case is individual, so it is impossible to say exact payback periods. The only thing that can be answered for sure is how quickly the video card will recover. The payback period for well-known models is on average six months.
Important!
Budget GPU graphics devices take longer to pay for themselves. Accordingly, the more expensive the video card, the faster the miner will beat it (provided that it does not break).
Making money with a mining farm is uncertain. A crypto miner will constantly balance between the income received here and now and possible prospects in the future. It is unlikely that you will be able to choose just one thing from this.
Alternative ways to make money on Bitcoins
Now, very briefly about alternative earnings on bitcoins. Many people understand that cryptocurrency is a commodity. This means there is supply and demand for it. And this must be used.
In addition to mining, you can make money on bitcoins in two ways:
- Invest in Bitcoin;
- Speculate in Bitcoin.
Investments in cryptocurrency, as a simple investment of money, were relevant until 2022. Then the crypt rose steadily, gave constantly positive indicators and brought its owners up to 100% per annum.
Now everything is unstable, but in the long term we can hope for the continuation of the positive trend, but in smaller amounts - 30-50% of profit per year. Therefore, investing in Bitcoin to make money is still relevant, although not so profitable.
But speculation is now a real paradise for those who understand financial markets. In one trading session (day), Bitcoin can fall and rise by $200. That is, with 4.5 thousand investments you can get 200 dollars by trading without borrowed funds. And this is almost 7% intraday from one operation.
You can carry out 2 or 3 such operations. And if you trade with leverage, your profit will increase proportionally. Therefore, if you understand financial markets, you can safely conduct transactions on the stock exchange.
As you can see, you can make money on Bitcoin not only by mining. Another question is that this will require special knowledge that you may not have.
But no one is stopping you, while you are assembling your first, second, third farm, to study the financial markets, learn to trade currencies and grab this piece of a tempting pie. Or feel like an avid investor and make a profit of 30-50% per annum already in 1919.
Recommended reading:
TOP 10 Bitcoin faucets that pay - what they are, how they work and how much you can earn.
Experts' forecast regarding Bitcoin prices
Now in terms of predicting the fate of Bitcoin, there are two camps. Some believe that it will grow, while others, on the contrary, believe that it is a bubble that will soon burst. To understand which of them is right, you need to familiarize yourself with the arguments.
The first, who claim that Bitcoin will grow, operate with the following logic: blockchain technology, on which the principle of Bitcoin’s operation is based, is becoming increasingly popular.
She goes into business, therefore there will be money there. And where there is money, there will be popularity of the system, and, accordingly, of many of its products. This means that if the popularity of the blockchain grows, then bitcoin will also grow.
Another point of view is that bitcoins are a bubble, and the same thing will happen to them as with IT companies in the 2000s, and with the real estate market in America in 2007-2008.
At the same time, all the signs are obvious - increased interest, high liquidity, constant drawdowns even in intraday trading. Plus indicators understandable to financial analysts that signal that Bitcoin is too overvalued and will soon collapse.
If we draw a logical conclusion from this, it will be something like this: in the future, Bitcoin will continue to grow steadily for many years, this is true. Another important role is played by the fact that bitcoins are finite, and there will never be more than 21 million bitcoins in circulation. But there is overheating of the cryptocurrency market, and this is very important. Next year promises to be a disaster for Bitcoin, but it should soon regain its position.
Therefore, if you are going to use Bitcoin as an investment or savings vehicle, an annual investment here will be pointless. You will simply lose the entire amount.
Get ready for the cue ball to be very stormy. But in the future, in 3-5 years, you can get an income of 200-300%, which in the financial world means a lot of money.
And you can work with cue balls next year, and in 3, and in 5 years. New equipment will appear. As the price drops, so will the complexity, as many will start to panic and sell their rigs for next to nothing.
Therefore, there is no reason to stop mining and think that it is unprofitable. The only thing you need to understand is that mining equipment, like cue balls, is overvalued. Therefore, if you suddenly need to sell it, you will also have to sell it at a loss.
What to do with the farm if Bitcoin falls in price
Now, in a nutshell, what to do with the farm if the cue balls start to drop sharply. The answer is very simple: nothing, keep mining. When the recession begins, the market will simply be flooded with used equipment, the price for it will drop sharply, and therefore you will not gain much in any case.
But if this is a farm on video cards, then there are two options:
- Make powerful gaming PCs;
- Sell video cards to gamers.
Both options will be acceptable. But if the first one will also help you save money, especially if you put effort into the design and the entire system as a whole, then the second one will bring losses relative to the original cost.
On the other hand, you will recoup somewhere between 50-65% of the cost of the farm in any case, because the video cards used in mining are quite powerful and in demand among players.
You will have to forget about your dreams of reselling the farm, but you can sell the video cards in parts.
