Small Farm (50 S19's) Networking Guidance

[BlazinaBits]

Hello everyone,

Im currently building a stranded gas mining rig in a seacan to be deployed on a stranded gas well in Alberta. I come from more of the oilfield and macro-economics side of this project, and know very little about the tech side. Im looking for any advice and help I can get my hands on.

Ive been researching a little bit about how to setup my network to provide me with remote access, and be as basic as possible. It seems to be cut-dry and simple but I know that it is more complex than I think so I am looking for some guidance.

My current view of is would be this: 50 ASICS plugged into 96 port switch, The switch plugged into a miraki firewall, the firewall plugged into a modem. From what I understand, I can remotely log into the network through the firewall.

Do I need a computer to stay out on location in the rig in this network and where would this fit into the network?
Would it be complicating to build a small security camera system into this?
What kind of switch should I be looking for that is robust and simple?
What kind of firewall should I be looking for that offers remote access but is cost effective?
How should I setup my remote accessing, and how much control will I really have/what will it look like?



If anyone has any advice, thoughts, or comments about this. Please share.

Thanks.

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[philipma1957]

Send me a pm I can advise you.

[danieleither]

I have a few small farms across various locations. My network setup is very simple. At each location I have the following:

1 x Regular broadband internet connection + router.
1 x Basic Windows PC on same network, running RealVNC (remote desktop app) and BTCTool (Bitmain's free monitoring software)
1 x 48 port Ethernet switch

The miners and PC are connected into the ethernet switch, the network switch is connected into the broadband router.

For any remote config tasks, I simply remote desktop to the PC at the farm.

I'm now into my 4th year of mining across 4 locations, hosting 20 at the smallest and 58 at the largest. I've had no problems whatsoever with the above setup, other than some brief broadband outages (negligible).

[paid2]

1 x Basic Windows PC on same network, running RealVNC (remote desktop app) and BTCTool (Bitmain's free monitoring software)

I'm surprised that you chose Windows as your OS with a remote installation like yours.

I mine more or less the same way as you, in different locations, but I chose a Debian based OS because I was afraid of Windows random restarts and untimely updates.
I'm sure there are parameters to all this, but overall Windows has always seemed less stable and reliable than Debian imo.

[2 bit Miner]

Hi Guys, out of interest. Why would you go it alone with something of this scale in what is described as a fairly desolate location.  Is it really in the middle of nowhere?  How do you right any technical issues if it is as remote as this?  I'm genuinely interested to hear your views as we maintain and host in fairly remote venues but but have teams in place to look after the pools 24/7.  If I had put that much money into a project I would want to know exactly what was going on from a physical as well as virtual perspective.  You must have nerves of steel.
Cheers, Alex
2bminer

[blckhawk]

I have a few small farms across various locations. My network setup is very simple. At each location I have the following:

1 x Regular broadband internet connection + router.
1 x Basic Windows PC on same network, running RealVNC (remote desktop app) and BTCTool (Bitmain's free monitoring software)
1 x 48 port Ethernet switch

The miners and PC are connected into the ethernet switch, the network switch is connected into the broadband router.

For any remote config tasks, I simply remote desktop to the PC at the farm.

I'm now into my 4th year of mining across 4 locations, hosting 20 at the smallest and 58 at the largest. I've had no problems whatsoever with the above setup, other than some brief broadband outages (negligible).

Do you have a tutorial for this or how to set up one? I'm more interested on the networking side of things. Regarding power outages, are you able to resolve that problem without going directly to this places? Do you have a generator or something that can help with your power. Is it totally a remote location? Because that's going to be difficult for the Internet signal if it's totally remote right?

[danieleither]

I have a few small farms across various locations. My network setup is very simple. At each location I have the following:

1 x Regular broadband internet connection + router.
1 x Basic Windows PC on same network, running RealVNC (remote desktop app) and BTCTool (Bitmain's free monitoring software)
1 x 48 port Ethernet switch

The miners and PC are connected into the ethernet switch, the network switch is connected into the broadband router.

For any remote config tasks, I simply remote desktop to the PC at the farm.

I'm now into my 4th year of mining across 4 locations, hosting 20 at the smallest and 58 at the largest. I've had no problems whatsoever with the above setup, other than some brief broadband outages (negligible).

Do you have a tutorial for this or how to set up one? I'm more interested on the networking side of things. Regarding power outages, are you able to resolve that problem without going directly to this places? Do you have a generator or something that can help with your power. Is it totally a remote location? Because that's going to be difficult for the Internet signal if it's totally remote right?

This is a VERY basic setup. There are better and more secure ways to do this, however this is just how I do mine. It's literally a PC with remote desktop access (you could use the Windows one if you have a professional version of windows, or use a 3rd party app such as VNC), connected to the same network as the miners. That's it! 'Remote desktop' means an app that lets you control the PC remotely (e.g. you log in to the computer remotely, you will see the screen of that computer on yours, and your keyboard and mouse will control the PC as if you are using the keyboard / mouse connected to it). You will need to install some monitoring software on the PC (I use BTC Tools by Bitmain, which is free and supports all make of miners).

As for power outages, miners just start mining again automatically when the power comes back on - there is no need for user intervention. For your PC, you can install a relatively cheap expansion card that will restart the PC after a power cut, or there are probably other easy ways to make your PC come back on after a power cut, wake over LAN for example... A backup generator is pointless as it will almost certainly cost more to run than the miners will generate bitcoin, or if you have a generator large enough (such as gas turbine) then you'd probably be using that as your main power source anyway. For 50 modern miners (~800kW) , you'd need a generator in the 1 MW+ range. It would likely be the size of a 40ft shipping container (in fact it would probably be mounted inside one).

As for remote locations, if there's adequate power infrastructure to your premises to run 50 miners, there should be broadband available too - however you could use a 4G router if there is a cell mast near enough, or alternatively a satellite solution such as Starlink.

[blckhawk]

~

This is a VERY basic setup. There are better and more secure ways to do this, however this is just how I do mine. It's literally a PC with remote desktop access (you could use the Windows one if you have a professional version of windows, or use a 3rd party app such as VNC), connected to the same network as the miners. That's it! 'Remote desktop' means an app that lets you control the PC remotely (e.g. you log in to the computer remotely, you will see the screen of that computer on yours, and your keyboard and mouse will control the PC as if you are using the keyboard / mouse connected to it). You will need to install some monitoring software on the PC (I use BTC Tools by Bitmain, which is free and supports all make of miners).

As for power outages, miners just start mining again automatically when the power comes back on - there is no need for user intervention. For your PC, you can install a relatively cheap expansion card that will restart the PC after a power cut, or there are probably other easy ways to make your PC come back on after a power cut, wake over LAN for example... A backup generator is pointless as it will almost certainly cost more to run than the miners will generate bitcoin, or if you have a generator large enough (such as gas turbine) then you'd probably be using that as your main power source anyway. For 50 modern miners (~800kW) , you'd need a generator in the 1 MW+ range. It would likely be the size of a 40ft shipping container (in fact it would probably be mounted inside one).

As for remote locations, if there's adequate power infrastructure to your premises to run 50 miners, there should be broadband available too - however you could use a 4G router if there is a cell mast near enough, or alternatively a satellite solution such as Starlink.

Wow, so much is needed even at a basic set up like this, how much is your capital in all of this? The basics for this seems to me like a lot of money. Starlink got the hype last year in my country but there doesn't seem to be enough people that wants to take on it. How's your profit on this monthly though? Have you got to the ROI yet?

[danieleither]

Wow, so much is needed even at a basic set up like this, how much is your capital in all of this? The basics for this seems to me like a lot of money. Starlink got the hype last year in my country but there doesn't seem to be enough people that wants to take on it. How's your profit on this monthly though? Have you got to the ROI yet?

Erm, it's really not a lot. You seem to be focussing on the wrong thing. For the networking setup described above, cost is about $100 for a cheap PC off Ebay, around $50 for an old network switch (doesn't need to be fast or fancy). So $150 all-in on networking hardware. These are the basic things you'd need even without remote access (as you need a PC connected to the same network as miners in order to configure them, restart them, monitor log files when errors occur etc). And the switch is required in order to connect multiple network devices to your internet source. The only additional thing (for remote access) - is literally an app or software, which depending on your windows version may be included anyway.

The power, cooling and racking infrastructure is what you should be focussing on. For 50 miners I would estimate somewhere between $3,000 and $15,000 - depending on the quality of components used, building works required, whether you use external tradespeople etc. You will need some heavy duty switchgear, cabling and wiring work. Whilst I've done all mine myself, this is really something a professional should be doing.

I've been mining 4 years across several locations, obviously it is profitable otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

You need power around $0.06 per kWh or lower realistically (to profit from mining commercially). And even then it is a very risk business. For most it makes more sense to just buy Bitcoin and hold.

[philipma1957]

Wow, so much is needed even at a basic set up like this, how much is your capital in all of this? The basics for this seems to me like a lot of money. Starlink got the hype last year in my country but there doesn't seem to be enough people that wants to take on it. How's your profit on this monthly though? Have you got to the ROI yet?

Erm, it's really not a lot. You seem to be focussing on the wrong thing. For the networking setup described above, cost is about $100 for a cheap PC off Ebay, around $50 for an old network switch (doesn't need to be fast or fancy). So $150 all-in on networking hardware. These are the basic things you'd need even without remote access (as you need a PC connected to the same network as miners in order to configure them, restart them, monitor log files when errors occur etc). And the switch is required in order to connect multiple network devices to your internet source. The only additional thing (for remote access) - is literally an app or software, which depending on your windows version may be included anyway.

The power, cooling and racking infrastructure is what you should be focussing on. For 50 miners I would estimate somewhere between $3,000 and $15,000 - depending on the quality of components used, building works required, whether you use external tradespeople etc. You will need some heavy duty switchgear, cabling and wiring work. Whilst I've done all mine myself, this is really something a professional should be doing.

I've been mining 4 years across several locations, obviously it is profitable otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

You need power around $0.06 per kWh or lower realistically (to profit from mining commercially). And even then it is a very risk business. For most it makes more sense to just buy Bitcoin and hold.

yeah six cent power all in works. lower is better . but at six cents you will likely profit.

[mikeywith]

Whatever you do, don't expose your miners to the WAN, it's risky as is and would be even worse if you don't know what you are doing,  the best basic setup is the one that danieleither described above, just a regular PC with a fresh OS, some trusted remote access application, and access your miners thought that PC, one thing I would add is a good monitoring tool like AwsomeMiner as that would keep your farm running problems free without you having to intervene, you just set a few rules and the application will handle your miners when something goes wrong, send you emails and notification about temps, hashrate and all the things you need, this way you won't have to log in every day to check.