Archive for the ‘Crypto News’ Category

Minebox – A Personal Cloud Storage and Cryptocurrency “Miner”

1, Feb 2017

The Minebox project has been announced a while ago as an interesting solution that combines a NAS device for storing your own data with a blockchain powered cryptocurrency for storing other user’s data on your free and unused space and earning money for doing that. Minebox relies on affordable Enterprise grade hardware from HP, namely the HP MicroServer that we’ve covered before as an interesting choice in regards to use with SiaCoin and Storj for example. So we were not surprised that this project has decided to go for the particular hardware from HP and extend the base NAS functionality with support for SiaCoin (SC) “mining” by renting your currently unused space. It is definitely an interesting idea, buying hardware that you can use for file storage and at the same time it may even pay for itself thanks to renting the unused resources such as free hard drive space over time.

If Minebox picks up a lot os user interest and we believe that it has the potential to do so, then it might spark the interest in other companies that are specializing already in more feature rich NAS solutions to integrate blockchain-powered services as well as a part of their portfolio. We are talking about companies such as Asustor, Qnap, Synology and others that may decide to add support for their products to rent unused space and allow the owners of the hardware to get paid for that thanks to support for SiaCoin or Storj or maybe something else…

Minebox has announced that it will start a presale of the MineBox NAS hardware starting next week – February 6th, apparently using ShapeShift as a partner for the payment with Bitcoin and other altcoins. Though not much details about the presale or when the actual devices will start to ship is yet available, hopefully it will be soon. It is interesting to see if there will also be a software only solution also available for more advanced users that may be interested in building their own devices or adding it on existing HP Proliant Microservers they may own. So far it is more likely tha Minebox will be sticking to providing users with the complete solution of hardware and software together, though you should still be able to upgrade your initial hardware such as adding more hard drives for example.

Minebox 8TB Specifications:
– HP Model: HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G1610T
– HP Model version: 819185-001
– Processor: Intel Celeron G1610T 2.4GHz
– Processor cores: 2 cores
– Cache Memory: 2MB (1x2MB) L3 cache
– Memory: 4GB (1x4GB) PC3L-128000E DDR3 UDIMM
– Network controller: HPE Ethernet 1Gb 2-port 332i Adapter
– Storage controller: HPE Dynamic Smart Array B129i Controller
– Hard Drive: 8TB (2x4TB) Western Digital Caviar Red
– Internal storage: 4 LFF NHP-SATA HDD CAGE
– PCI-Express slots: 1 standard (1-Low Profile) PCIe 2.0
– Power supply: 150W
– Fans: One (1) Non-redundant system fan ships standard
– Operating System: xOS 1.0
– Form factor: Ultra Micro Tower
– Warranty: 1-year parts
– Size: 23.8 x 45.6 x 47.9 cm

– You can get more details about the Minebox project on its official website here…

Bitcoin Price Reaching New Highs, Moving Past $850 USD

22, Dec 2016

bitcoin-price

The Bitcoin exchange rate is on the bull run at the moment reaching new high moving past the $850 USD mark and maybe even trying to test $900 USD in the next couple of days. Of course as it usually happens when BTC is on the rise pretty much all other altcoins are going down, so no surprises there either. We are still not as high as the price from a few years ago during the MtGox crisis that has artificially increased the exchange rate of Bitcoin, but still things are looking very positive. At the moment predictions for a price of $1000 USD or more during early 2017 do not seem too pessimistic, even $2000 USD by the end of the next year is not so far fetched anymore.

– To keep a track of the up tod ate exchange rates of Bitcoin and other altcoins on Bitcoinwisdom…

SimpleMining SimpleRigResetter for Multiple GPU Mining Rig Owners

30, Nov 2016

tplink-smart-plug

Remotely controlling multiple mining rigs is not a hard thing to do, however remotely resetting them in case of a problem is not as easy as you might think. Sure if you have a rig or two you can purchase a smart WiFi switch for example and connect the mining rig to it and issue a power off/on command remotely via the Internet. Some of these devices also come with another useful feature for monitoring the actual power usage and that can be helpful for some mining rig owners. The smart WiFi plugs are available for as low as $20 USD or EUR, but if you have more than a couple of mining rigs they are not that good of an option. The cost will build up and you can even start having problem with your WiFi router being able to keep everything connected and operating properly.

simplerigresetter

Fortunately there are interesting alternatives also available in the form of dedicated products and one such that was recently announced is the SimpleRigResetter device made by the creator of the Simplemining OS. The device is designed to remotely monitor and control the power on/off functionality of up to 8 mining rigs by plugging 4 cables into the motherboard header of each rig – two for the power LED and two for the power on functionality. It is a custom built hardware that connects over the network and works with custom software to reset any of the connected mining rigs when you need to and it should even come with support integrated in the SimpleMining OS.

The SimpleRigResetter device is not yet available with pre-orders expected to start in December with a base price of $70 USD for the board + $20 USD for shipping and deliveries should start in the second half of January 2017 according to the currently available data. There is even an extension pack announced that should add support for control of up to 24 additional mining rigs that is priced at $90 USD, making the total number of supported rigs 32. It is definitely something to keep an eye on if you need a solution like that and have more than just a few mining rigs in operation.

arduino-mega

Of course if you get creative and have a bit more knowledge in hardware and programming you can pick up something like an Arduino Mega board, slap on an Ethernet shield on it and add a relay pack with some custom code and get support for remote power on/off of more than 50 mining rigs. This is just an idea of course for people that might be looking for other alternatives and might be interested in DIY solution that they can customize by themselves without way too much effort. This of course is not something that just about anybody can do even though using Arudino is not rocket science it still does require some knowledge and experience. Not to mention if you decide to go for a custom PCB and make your own product similar in functionality to the one mentioned above, but then again your focus is probably mining and you will most likely need a ready-made solution that does not cost too much and works well.

– For more information about the upcoming SimpleMining SimpleRigResetter…


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