Minebox Pre-order 8TB and 16TB Models using SIA

[Eyedol-X]

This isn't really mining but it uses SIA Coin blockchain for its architecture so I figured I would post here.

I just ordered a 16TB Model today and thought I would share the link for those that may not know about the Minebox

This is not a referral link and I don't work for Minebox, I just think its a cool technology.

Information: https://minebox.io/

Preorder: https://minebox.io/preorder

Anyone else going to get one one?

[AmDD]

Interesting, I had not heard of this. Thanks!

[groovy1962]

Have you got a link to a profitability calculation?

It seems to me that these projects are great ideas for distributed data storage, but that there's a lot of enthusiasts putting up capacity--- but are there any customers buying that capacity?

[Eyedol-X]

Have you got a link to a profitability calculation?

It seems to me that these projects are great ideas for distributed data storage, but that there's a lot of enthusiasts putting up capacity--- but are there any customers buying that capacity?

Right now I don't think this would be profitable for "mining" but the more people use the technology and the increased demand of SIA will only raise the price and add value long term.

It's my hope that buying one of these early that I ROI "some day" but I bought it more for the encrypted storage cloud capability than I did as a miner, that feature is just a perk for me that offsets the low power costs of having it connected and online.

[takagari]

Not seeing a lot of info on use..
it's a 4 bay but comes with 2 drives? can it be expanded? can drives be plugged into the usb ports for further expansion?

[Eyedol-X]

Not seeing a lot of info on use..
it's a 4 bay but comes with 2 drives? can it be expanded? can drives be plugged into the usb ports for further expansion?

It's an HP Micro server and yes you can add additional drives and use all 4 drive bays. Don't know about expanded storage via USB but it seams like a feasible feature in the future.

They told me if you add more drives once you receive yours they can provide instructions how to enable them in the OS.

Their twitter has some screen captures of the custom linux OS they are using https://t.co/7khPOTk2do

https://twitter.com/mineboxHQ

[QuintLeo]

WAY too expensive for what they are offering.

 I could build a 16 TB box for more like $800 all-up specifically including OS/software AND a pair of Seagate "Archive" 8TB drives, using a MB and a case that would easily handle at least 7 drives (and with some digging might manage 8-10 and still bring it in under $800 my cost).

 Don't need no "custom" LINUX version to do it with either - ANY standard LINUX version for at least the last 20 years has been able to handle a lot more than 4 drives.

[joblo]

How much load does HDD mining put on the drive? It is a mechanical device after
and suffers wear.

[Eyedol-X]

WAY too expensive for what they are offering.

 I could build a 16 TB box for more like $800 all-up specifically including OS/software AND a pair of Seagate "Archive" 8TB drives, using a MB and a case that would easily handle at least 7 drives (and with some digging might manage 8-10 and still bring it in under $800 my cost).

 Don't need no "custom" LINUX version to do it with either - ANY standard LINUX version for at least the last 20 years has been able to handle a lot more than 4 drives.

the hard drives in the 16TB model are around $300 USD each, so for $600 you'd still need a board $100, processor, $100, ram $40, PSU $150, Chassis $100 -- that comes in around $1100 before shipping or taxes. Then you'd still need to build your OS and connect it to the SIA blockchain network in the manner theirs does.

Can you save a few hundred $$ doing all this? Certainly, can you do it in the same a-la-carte small form factor? Nope.

I don't know if this technology will take off or fall on its face but I am interested in it because I think it has potential.

[Eyedol-X]

How much load does HDD mining put on the drive? It is a mechanical device after
and suffers wear.

They use Seagate Iron Wolf drives that are built for a ~300TB a year workload.

It's no SSD, but that's a lot of wear...

[maleemk]

Agreed way too expensive.

[Gaglam]

$1468.00 EUR for 16TB?
You must be kidding 

[KaydenC]

Not worth it. If you want to do SIA/Storj/Maidsafe/Burst, DIY a build with these 8TB WD red drives for $210 (shuck it from the enclosure): https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN/dp/B01LQQHLGC/

[Eyedol-X]

For those interested, below are some of the unique features to Minebox

Key Minebox features:

1. Local storage and remote access
2. Earn money on your free space (unique to Minebox)
3. Get redundant offsite backups with one click (unique to Minebox)
4. Bring your data under your control with a private key known only to you (unique to Minebox)
5. Manage your balance with a built-in wallet (unique to Minebox)

[Eyedol-X]

Not worth it. If you want to do SIA/Storj/Maidsafe/Burst, DIY a build with these 8TB WD red drives for $210 (shuck it from the enclosure): https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN/dp/B01LQQHLGC/

Minebox was originally using those WD Red Drives and switched for the better IronWolf drives.

The point of this device is not how cheap you can make cloud storage, the point of this device is storing your data in a decentralized network where you control your private key to your data.

If you connect a Minebox to the network, add all your data and your Minebox fails... you can recover 100% of your data, that's what makes Minebox unique. In addition to this, you can earn SIA Coin for reselling your unused space on the network.

Minebox is first to market with this type of device.

[QuintLeo]

WAY too expensive for what they are offering.

 I could build a 16 TB box for more like $800 all-up specifically including OS/software AND a pair of Seagate "Archive" 8TB drives, using a MB and a case that would easily handle at least 7 drives (and with some digging might manage 8-10 and still bring it in under $800 my cost).

 Don't need no "custom" LINUX version to do it with either - ANY standard LINUX version for at least the last 20 years has been able to handle a lot more than 4 drives.

the hard drives in the 16TB model are around $300 USD each, so for $600 you'd still need a board $100, processor, $100, ram $40, PSU $150, Chassis $100 -- that comes in around $1100 before shipping or taxes. Then you'd still need to build your OS and connect it to the SIA blockchain network in the manner theirs does.

Can you save a few hundred $$ doing all this? Certainly, can you do it in the same a-la-carte small form factor? Nope.

I don't know if this technology will take off or fall on its face but I am interested in it because I think it has potential.

 2 Seagate Archive 8TB drives are $498 from NewEgg right now (I didn't check shipping but it's not going to be much if any over $10).
 The Archive type drives would work better with BURST than SIA though, as they're slow to write to but quite fast to retrieve data from.

 The WD Red drives the other person quoted would save even more.

 Motherboard definitely under $100, possibly $50ish.
 Processor $50 or LESS.
 PSU under $100 and more likely $50-$80 - HDs do NOT need a ton of PSU as they typically only soak 10-15 watt ballpark each.
 Chassis more like $50.

 The point to this device is to make a lot of money for the seller by profiting quite a bit per off folks that don't know any better or how to roll their own better solution.

[QuintLeo]

For those interested, below are some of the unique features to Minebox

Key Minebox features:

1. Local storage and remote access
2. Earn money on your free space (unique to Minebox)
3. Get redundant offsite backups with one click (unique to Minebox)
4. Bring your data under your control with a private key known only to you (unique to Minebox)
5. Manage your balance with a built-in wallet (unique to Minebox)

 NONE of this is unique to MineBox, though the specific combination might be outside of DIY builds.

[takagari]

Agreed, looks pretty but... don't think it's worth it.

[evakka]

I was also interested in this device which is a useful machine in compare to an antminer for example That has only a unique use, the mining. Nothing more, a useless, noisy device which consumes electricity.

My thoughts are:
Further of the mining usage,
If I would need a NAS device for backing up my staff, watch movies, it could be a choice.
But Indeed is quite expensive.
With the amount of $1000 (disks included) I can buy one of the best models (4 bay or more) of Synology which is has a very stable, user friendly OS and high quality hardware parts.

To finalize,
If the price was less I would go for it.

[Eyedol-X]

For those interested, below are some of the unique features to Minebox

Key Minebox features:

1. Local storage and remote access
2. Earn money on your free space (unique to Minebox)
3. Get redundant offsite backups with one click (unique to Minebox)
4. Bring your data under your control with a private key known only to you (unique to Minebox)
5. Manage your balance with a built-in wallet (unique to Minebox)

 NONE of this is unique to MineBox, though the specific combination might be outside of DIY builds.

2 Seagate Archive 8TB drives are $498 from NewEgg right now (I didn't check shipping but it's not going to be much if any over $10).
 The Archive type drives would work better with BURST than SIA though, as they're slow to write to but quite fast to retrieve data from.

 The WD Red drives the other person quoted would save even more.

 Motherboard definitely under $100, possibly $50ish.
 Processor $50 or LESS.
 PSU under $100 and more likely $50-$80 - HDs do NOT need a ton of PSU as they typically only soak 10-15 watt ballpark each.
 Chassis more like $50.

 The point to this device is to make a lot of money for the seller by profiting quite a bit per off folks that don't know any better or how to roll their own better solution.

I was also interested in this device which is a useful machine in compare to an antminer for example That has only a unique use, the mining. Nothing more, a useless, noisy device which consumes electricity.

My thoughts are:
Further of the mining usage,
If I would need a NAS device for backing up my staff, watch movies, it could be a choice.
But Indeed is quite expensive.
With the amount of $1000 (disks included) I can buy one of the best models (4 bay or more) of Synology which is has a very stable, user friendly OS and high quality hardware parts.

To finalize,
If the price was less I would go for it.

I think maybe I missed something here, there are references to DIY builds that can do all of these things but I don't see where to find that information here in this thread.

However, here is what I have been able to determine upon my analysis of the Minebox cost:

2x Drives found in Minebox - $600 on Newegg - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179003
HP Microserver found in Minebox - $430 on Newegg - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP3JU1624
Additional Memory in 4GB Ram in 16TB Model - $29 on Newegg https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148813

Without shipping costs that's already $1060 and the Minebox costs $498 more for the 16TB Model.

So roughly $500 for a custom OS with warranty and continued development to do all the things mentioned above? I'm sorry but if all they are making is $500 a shot on these things, that's not a sustainable business model as they are only making about 33% profit on each device and I'm sure after you factor in their initial R&D and continued development, that profit number dwindles.

Some have indicated here that there is already an OS that does this or can do this? If so, where is the a-la-carte OS download or where is the DIY instructions?

Clearly you can DIY build the hardware cheaper than the above but my question is; if there is some unknown to me way of doing things advertised as unique to Minebox, where is this information on how this is done? I ask this because right now from everything I have found, it looks like these features are first to market.

It's well known that you can backup to the cloud, you can backup to external hard drives, and you can use 3rd party software to encrypt your local backups and backups in the cloud but where is the competing product that does it all in one bundle? Is this a DIY found in a place I haven't found or is this some sort of commercial product that can be purchased?

So far I haven't found this bundle of features available anywhere else in one package. I know of ways I could effectively create a similar solution but that solution would not be decentralized on a blockchain using SIA or a similar architecture. I'm sure given enough time I could figure out how to make that work but candidly, I don't have that kind of time to develop such a product just for myself.

Lastly, if there is a product that can purchased or DIY that I don't know about, does that same product allow you to resell your unused free space and get paid in SIA or another crypto currency the way Minebox does?

Thanks