Bringing decentralization back to the Bitcoin network.

[Transisto]

By how much big pool hashing power has dropped due to this post + p2pool ?

Wouldn't congratulate myself for increasing payout of p2pool, the reason people don't use p2pool and stay at say DeepB, is
A: don't know better, lazy, clueless of the ripoff fees,
B: Because of how complicated it is to set it up.

I would rather donate to someone making p2pool easier to use. Then I'd donate to publicize it against deepbit.

I'm not personally interested in using p2pool but is it correct to say I would have to install a bitcoind on all my miners OR have to port forward my router for external miners and live with this new point of failure ?

[DeathAndTaxes]

I'm not personally interested in using p2pool but is it correct to say I would have to install a bitcoind on all my miners OR have to port forward my router for external miners and live with this new point of failure ?

Why would you need to port forward?  Aren't all your miners on the same subnet?  If so you just need a LAN accessible system to run bitcoind & p2pool.  If you are worried about single point of failure (and I would be  if you have a significant hashing farm) you can easily setup two (or more) systems to run bitcoind & p2pool and have each miner configured with server A & B in fall over configuration.

If you miners are on different subnets then yes you would either need port forwarding or one bitcoind running per subnet.

[Ranvier]

p2pool is really easy to set up, but the instructions aren't always clear. Because of this I wrote a script that automates the installation of p2pool and cgminer. Bitcoin must be already installed.

http://u.forre.st/u/axuzbykp/p2pool%20Automator%20v0.52.zip

It walks users through the installation process in a quick, precise manner. It includes the ability to configure the p2pool mining address, add additional cgminer flags, and generates an easily modified .bat file which launches both p2pool and cgminer.

-Ranvier

[gnar1ta$]

I'm not personally interested in using p2pool but is it correct to say I would have to install a bitcoind on all my miners OR have to port forward my router for external miners and live with this new point of failure ?

I don't have bitcoind or p2pool running on any of my miners, all they do is mine. I have the nodes on a separate server where all the miners connect - much easier to set up. And I use a backup pool just as I would with any other pool. You can use a centralized pool or another p2pool node. There are several people who set up p2pool nodes that anyone can connect to as well, no need to run anything but the miner.

[Red Emerald]

I'm not personally interested in using p2pool but is it correct to say I would have to install a bitcoind on all my miners OR have to port forward my router for external miners and live with this new point of failure ?

I don't have bitcoind or p2pool running on any of my miners, all they do is mine. I have the nodes on a separate server where all the miners connect - much easier to set up. And I use a backup pool just as I would with any other pool. You can use a centralized pool or another p2pool node. There are several people who set up p2pool nodes that anyone can connect to as well, no need to run anything but the miner.

I do the same.  Multiple machines with mining programs installed and one machine with bitcoind and p2pool.

This is no different than running your own pool with any other software.  It is a little more work than connecting to someone else's pool, but that's because you are letting someone else do the work.

As other people said, if you are on the same subnet, you don't need to do anything with your router.  However, I wanted people on the internet to be able to connect to my pool, so I opened some ports.  It isn't necessary, but I think it's good for the network.  If you want to use my server (p2pool.stitthappens.com:8336) as a way to try out p2pool, as a backup pool or even as your primary pool, go ahead, I'm not taking any fees (although I am going to turn donate author on soon).

[btc_artist]

Good thread.  I guess I need to bite the bullet and set up P2Pool.

[Transisto]

p2pool is really easy to set up, but the instructions aren't always clear. Because of this I wrote a script that automates the installation of p2pool and cgminer. Bitcoin must be already installed.

http://u.forre.st/u/axuzbykp/p2pool%20Automator%20v0.52.zip

It walks users through the installation process in a quick, precise manner. It includes the ability to configure the p2pool mining address, add additional cgminer flags, and generates an easily modified .bat file which launches both p2pool and cgminer.

-Ranvier

Thanks, that is awesome.

The P2pool error message I encountered is not self explanatory, "bitcoind identity problem"
meaning , need updated version or bitcoin not running.


Also the Bitcoin-qt client crash at p2pool startup if it's not started already,  why not kill and restart it via RanvierRun ?

[Rassah]

p2pool is really easy to set up, but the instructions aren't always clear. Because of this I wrote a script that automates the installation of p2pool and cgminer. Bitcoin must be already installed.

http://u.forre.st/u/axuzbykp/p2pool%20Automator%20v0.52.zip

It walks users through the installation process in a quick, precise manner. It includes the ability to configure the p2pool mining address, add additional cgminer flags, and generates an easily modified .bat file which launches both p2pool and cgminer.

-Ranvier

I run my cgminer with the following options:

-I 9 --auto-fan --auto-gpu --gpu-engine 750-950 --gpu-memclock 300

Would this be GPU specific? (I'm on ATI 5830) I'm a bit worried people using the default P2Pool/cgminer config may get turned away after seeing their hash rate not be as high as their old customized miners.

[Transisto]

Would this be GPU specific? (I'm on ATI 5830) I'm a bit worried people using the default P2Pool/cgminer config may get turned away after seeing their hash rate not be as high as their old customized miners.

Thus the need for a clause : Is this a dedicated mining PC ? Y : Get better hashrate N : Get a better faster desktop experience.

[Ranvier]

I think I might write a little "guide" into the code instructing ideal cgminer flags. The current script is something that a threw together really quick.

I'll also add namecoin setup if I have time.

[Transisto]

I'll also add namecoin setup if I have time.

That would be a must since profitability is what make it or break it for heavy miners.

Count me in to support your work.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I'll also add namecoin setup if I have time.

That would be a must since profitability is what make it or break it for heavy miners.

Count me in to support your work.

Namecoin is worth only about 1.2% extra revenue.  It is a nice luxury but I would hardly call it make or break.

[Transisto]

I'll also add namecoin setup if I have time.

That would be a must since profitability is what make it or break it for heavy miners.

Count me in to support your work.

Namecoin is worth only about 1.2% extra revenue.  It is a nice luxury but I would hardly call it make or break.

Timely addition to Pool Comparison wiki : ↑ P2Pool supports merged mining but payouts in the merged chain are not pooled.

[Red Emerald]

I'll also add namecoin setup if I have time.

That would be a must since profitability is what make it or break it for heavy miners.

Count me in to support your work.

Namecoin is worth only about 1.2% extra revenue.  It is a nice luxury but I would hardly call it make or break.

I don't personally care about the namecoin revenue. I mine namecoin because I want a distributed DNS to succeed.

[PrintCoins]

The best way to bring decentralization to the network is just to mine for yourself. I don't know what I think about so much control of the network going to so few.

That's the idea behind p2pool, solo mining with pooled reward.  Unless you have a 100Ghash farm hiding in your garage to reduce the variance???

Variance... whatever. You get paid once every 2 months a lump sum or a little bit every day. Why does it matter except to satisfy the monkey brain.

If you do have a garage farm that can get a block ever other day, reducing variance is really pointless.

[Red Emerald]

The best way to bring decentralization to the network is just to mine for yourself. I don't know what I think about so much control of the network going to so few.

That's the idea behind p2pool, solo mining with pooled reward.  Unless you have a 100Ghash farm hiding in your garage to reduce the variance???

Variance... whatever. You get paid once every 2 months a lump sum or a little bit every day. Why does it matter except to satisfy the monkey brain.

If you do have a garage farm that can get a block ever other day, reducing variance is really pointless.

Money now is better than money later IMO. I can invest money now. In 2 months, who knows what investment opportunities will be gone or if I'll have even solved a block.  Variance matters.

[Transisto]

The best way to bring decentralization to the network is just to mine for yourself. I don't know what I think about so much control of the network going to so few.

That's the idea behind p2pool, solo mining with pooled reward.  Unless you have a 100Ghash farm hiding in your garage to reduce the variance???

Variance... whatever. You get paid once every 2 months a lump sum or a little bit every day. Why does it matter except to satisfy the monkey brain.

If you do have a garage farm that can get a block ever other day, reducing variance is really pointless.

Money now is better than money later IMO. I can invest money now. In 2 months, who knows what investment opportunities will be gone or if I'll have even solved a block.  Variance matters.

There is variance then there is variance, a payout every other day has little to do with one every 2 month.

A problem with solo is that you waste 5 minute everyday to check if you've found a block and while you wait for a first block you wonder if it's working or not.

[gnar1ta$]

The best way to bring decentralization to the network is just to mine for yourself. I don't know what I think about so much control of the network going to so few.

That's the idea behind p2pool, solo mining with pooled reward.  Unless you have a 100Ghash farm hiding in your garage to reduce the variance???

Variance... whatever. You get paid once every 2 months a lump sum or a little bit every day. Why does it matter except to satisfy the monkey brain.

If you do have a garage farm that can get a block ever other day, reducing variance is really pointless.

Money now is better than money later IMO. I can invest money now. In 2 months, who knows what investment opportunities will be gone or if I'll have even solved a block.  Variance matters.

There is variance then there is variance, a payout every other day has little to do with one every 2 month.

A problem with solo is that you waste 5 minute everyday to check if you've found a block and while you wait for a first block you wonder if it's working or not.

Don't forget about difficulty increases.  Variance evens out over the long term with constant difficulty.  What happens if you are solo mining with an expected reward every 2 months and hit an unlucky streak with a large difficulty increase streak??

[Transisto]

A : Don't mine at the big 3 and have a few backup pools ready.
B : Mine using P2Pool
C : Mine Solo
D : All the above

Thank You.

[kais3r]

i believe the 51% attack will happen if deepbit controls this much.