Cointerra trip report

[Carlton Banks]

Will all the units be rackmount cases? I didn't see any option for that in the order form. Rackmount cases would definitely be my preference.

Would it be possible to get "de-badged" cases? Just thinking of those people who have to think about the scruples of those who they're employing to do moving jobs that include these units. With "Terra Miner" and "Coin-terra" written all over the cases, I don't think there's any real way of keeping the purpose of the devices at all discreet. Some bright spark will inevitably start talking about this in their leisure time, or worse, decide themselves to plan a heist on a datacenter or home residence.

i will ask if you can buy the cases without markings but i suspect not.  you can always buy a sharpie and black it out as it seems to be just white graphic on a black background

Strategically placed duct tape could of course provide a beaten up innocuous look, as well.

[Carlton Banks]

This comment is only for those mining from their homes.

I hope those power supplies are quieter than my 350W 1U power supplies. I had 8 1U racks in my basement at one time and it was quite a racket.

Can't comment on the noise output yet, but the fans for liquid cooling tend to be fairly low RPM, and the blade size appears to be on the large end of the scale (looks like 12cm). This will make for a lower frequency noise, which is easily blocked out by a closed door and/or the stairs from your basement.

The power supplies are the type (dimensions) that come with your average server box, so they'll be well specified for always-on operation (although not as commonly stocked if a replacement is ever needed). What that will mean for the noise output... well, with 2200W in total, it sounds as the Mk. IV unit will allow significant power headroom, such that the PSU fans won't be running at full speed. The fans are smaller in these units though, which means a higher pitched noise than your typical ATX form PSU, although in practice they tend not to be very loud at that pitch (my experience is that it's difficult to tell with a bunch of other equipment in the room drowning them out, but that's only a good indication when you think about it)

Less of an improvised design than previous ASIC's, in fact it seems that everything is being done to make it possible to talk over a room full of these things  . I'm sure there are some datacenter managers (both professional and, um, amateur) that will forever curse the BFL or Avalon approach to cooling and noise.

[eiliant]

Nice keyboards!

[TiagoTiago]

Are some of those photos failing to load for anyone else?

[biggzi]

Yeah pics aren't loading for me either.

Would be great to see inside the beast!

[descarte]

fantastic photos. these pics are giving cointerra a lot of credibility. great work.

[PoUpA]

looks like december batch will be late ...

[aerobatic]

A couple of photos i forgot to add coming up...

[aerobatic]

A close-up of the cooling pumps that attach to the asics



a close-up of the under side of a cooling pump, so you can see the pre-installed thermal paste (and plastic cover which is removed when mounted)

[aerobatic]

Ricky and Javed...   Whats a collective noun for asic engineers?   these guys are working on secret squirrel stuff that i wasn't told about (but its probably their next gen)

Apparently its a geek of engineers.  or something!?   http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_collective_nouns_by_subject

[aerobatic]

OK.. so i think thats all the photos worth uploading.  i took many more but they're duplicates and repetitions and don't add anything.  All pics taken on my iPhone!  they came out ok.. so who needs a real camera when your phone works almost as good!?  ok, some of the light metering was pretty sucky... ah well.

I'm looking forward to reading the next trip report that i see is going to be from Phinneas.   Actually.. I'm still in Austin so i guess i could go back and see him.

See you all in Vegas !

[nosferatujeff]

Thank you, sir, for your time and efforts in reporting all this at CT. Looks like it was a fun visit. I'm jealous.

[Bitcoinorama]

Awesome effort Jez,

Never understood why more people don't just take these trips before spending significant time and/or money.

See you in Vegas.

[guytechie]

It would be beneficial for Cointerra to tout they are US-based and their products are made in America (Made in the USA with a flag on their front page maybe).  It's not just a pride thing, but also a shipping cost/time and trust thing.  It's easier to trust a start-up when they are in the same country as you are.

I'm not about to fly overseas to check out a facility, but it's much easier to do so within the US (a couple hours flight for most, maybe just a road trip for others).

After all those pics and knowing they are here in the US, I want to buy from them - but an April batch?  Yikes...

[xstr8guy]

Are some of those photos failing to load for anyone else?

Well obviously the chip pictures aren't loading!   

[Bogart]

Rackmount is definitely a plus.

Redundant hotswap power supplies is very cool.

VP of Engineering runs Windows.  Not so cool.  At least the Customer Service guy runs OS X.

[Carlton Banks]

Redundant hotswap power supplies is very cool.

Hmmm, I think it may be one per mining board (of which there are 2), not redundant PSU's at all. Overall power draw for a TerraMiner IV is estimated between 1250-1500W. Maybe the Mk. II could have a redundancy setup.

[RickJamesBTC]

I'm just not seeing any substance. Obviously they are working on it, but where are the key parts that they need to ship 2th miners by the end of the month? The cases aren't hard to make, any of us could get those made in bulk in china with a month lead. Power supplies and coolers are off the shelf. Where is the manufacturing facility ready to produce thousands of these? Where are production PCBs and Chips?  Sold out through the "march" batch, but will they be pulling a BFL and trying to ship december orders in april still?

[DPoS]

Are some of those photos failing to load for anyone else?

Well obviously the chip pictures aren't loading!   

HAR!!

[aerobatic]

I'm just not seeing any substance. Obviously they are working on it, but where are the key parts that they need to ship 2th miners by the end of the month? The cases aren't hard to make, any of us could get those made in bulk in china with a month lead. Power supplies and coolers are off the shelf. Where is the manufacturing facility ready to produce thousands of these? Where are production PCBs and Chips?  Sold out through the "march" batch, but will they be pulling a BFL and trying to ship december orders in april still?

really?  you're not seeing any substance?  you didn't see photos of a prototype board... and a cooling system?  in fact, most of the bits that you need to make the system are already in prototype and nearly done and they're just missing the asic.

actually.. the power supplies may be off the shelf (though they're expensive and high end models compared to what I've seen in other people's system)...   but yet again, they're absolutely the best power supplies for what they needed to do.  they aren't running them at 100% load so they will get benefits in power efficiency which will make the miners cheaper to run... and they are very small and thin which gives them good airflow front to back inside the cases to help with cooling.  and the air goes the right way, and only one way.. which is perfect for datacentre deployment.

the cooling system isn't off the shelf.  that radiator was a custom hunk of metal... quite a big one at that and they've got two of them in the box.

i don't think they have many december orders... as the price for january was so attractive i think all the december customers switched their orders into january.

cointerra seems to have gone out of the way to use local suppliers... and although that may cost them more in the short term, the benefits probably outweigh the disadvantages.   for instance their asic was designed and architected in austin, and their board designer is in austin and their assembly and manufacturers are in austin.  actually, the only bit that wasn't done in austin was the bit that slowed them down (the tapeout delay).. so that kind of shows that their plan to have as close to 100% austin engineered and supplied project was probably a good idea...  and will help them achieve their time to market goals.   Had they gone for the cheapest suppliers or manufacturers around the world, they could've brought the manufacturing price down, but increased the timescales, logistics and risk factors.