This application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/, filed Mar. 4, by Walter Neal Simmons and entitled “Cooling System and Method for Cryptocurrency Miners” as well as U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/, filed Jun. 5, by Walter Neal Simmons, Walter John Simmons, and Connor Tinen and entitled “Cooling System and Method for Cryptocurrency Miners” under 35 U.S.C. § (e), and the entire contents of these applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.

The invention relates to a cooling system and method for cryptocurrency miners. The invention further relates to a data center and a method of cooling a data center.

Commercially available cryptocurrency mining equipment has vastly expanded companies' ability to scale their mining operations. Nevertheless, to be profitable, the choice and overall setup of the equipment is essential. As shown for example in , the miner 2 itself for example comprises a housing 4 with a control board (not shown), many application-specific microchips typically distributed among several circuit boards (not shown) inside housing 4, and at least one cooling fan 6 coupled to a front end 4a of housing 4 providing an air flow therein that is exhausted out a back end 4b of housing 4, and is provided with an associated power supply 8 which also has its own cooling fan 8a. Miner 2 achieves profitability measured based on equipment factors including the so-called hash rate as well as the power consumption of the miner.

Bitmain Technologies Inc.'s Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner has emerged as a particularly popular design. Relying on ASIC chips designed for bitcoin mining, along with a control board employing a fast, Dual ARM® Cortex®-A9 microprocessor, the Antminer S9 has a hash rate of TeraHash per second (TH/s)±5%, power consumption of W (depending on hash rate and assuming 25° C. ambient temperature), and two axial fans including a front fan with a speed of rpm (providing an estimated airflow at zero static pressure of about CFM) and a rear fan with a speed of rpm (providing an estimated airflow at zero static pressure of about CFM). Each Antminer S9 unit has a generally rectangular, aluminum housing and has overall dimensions of mm (L)× mm (W)× mm (H). The unit is designed for an operating temperature range of 0° C° C. Breaking down the various costs associated with these units, cooling is quite significant given that the fans must provide significant airflow because of the heat generation that occurs while the unit is operating. Each of the microchips is provided with aluminum alloy heat sinks for conducting heat away from the chips, while the high speed fans must constantly replace the heated air within the housing with fresh cooler air. Graphics processing units (GPUs) can be used in this application because the processors provide substantial calculating power, although other processors such as central processing units (CPUs) may be used.

The Antminer S9 is just one example of a cryptocurrency miner. It is quite expensive compared to many others available in the commercial market, but offers efficiency that others cannot meet at their price points.

What is clear from the various cryptocurrency miner options on the market is that their installation can vary considerably among users. One significant variable is the method employed for cooling in the vicinity of the miners. In particular, the most desirable facilities have access to relatively inexpensive electricity and low operating temperatures. If air conditioning equipment must be used to provide the relatively cooler air to circulate through the miners, or large exhaust-type fans are employed to introduce air from the outside into an enclosed space (such as a building) where racks of miners may be disposed, costs are increased. Depending on the number of miners used in an operation, which could vary from one to a thousand or more, the design of the cooling system and method becomes more important. In other words, an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in miners for a single operation must be adequately protected, in part, by protecting the equipment from failures, or shutdowns, due to overheating. Thus, in order to scale operations, the overall layout of the miners within a given space must be carefully considered.

In sum, there exists a need for convective cooling systems and methods for efficiently handling heat transfer away from cryptocurrency miners.

A data center includes an enclosed space, a support disposed in the enclosed space, a plurality of cryptocurrency miners disposed on the support, and a barrier wall separating the enclosed space into a first portion on a relatively cool side and a second portion on a relatively warm side. The cryptocurrency miners each have a miner fan for circulating air from the first portion. The cryptocurrency miners are each disposed so that air moved by the miner fan is exhausted into the second portion. At least one exhaust fan may be provided for exhausting air from the second portion.

In some embodiments, the enclosed space may be a shipping container. The support may be a rack assembly. In addition, louvers may be provided for permitting air circulation into the first portion. The louvers may include at least one barrier for preventing foreign objects from entering the enclosed space. The at least one barrier may be a screen, and the screen may be configured and dimensioned to prevent birds from entering the enclosed space. The louvers may include at least one panel filter for removing airborne particulate and coolant mist from air entering the enclosed space.

A temperature difference between the first portion and the second portion may be at least 10° C. or at least 20° C. during operation of the miners.

The cryptocurrency miners may be configured to mine Bitcoin.

The data center may further include an aperture for permitting air to transfer from the second portion to the first portion, and the aperture may permit control of relative humidity in the first portion.

The data center may further include a second barrier wall separating the enclosed space into a third portion on a relatively cool side and the second portion on a relatively warm side, wherein the third portion is distinct from the first portion.

A data center may include: an enclosed space; a first support disposed in the enclosed space; a plurality of cryptocurrency miners disposed on the first support; a second support disposed in the enclosed space; a plurality of cryptocurrency miners disposed on the second support; a first barrier wall separating the enclosed space into a first portion on a relatively cool side and a second portion on a relatively warm side; a second barrier wall separating the enclosed space into a third portion on a relatively cool side and the second portion on a relatively warm side; wherein the cryptocurrency miners on the first support each comprise a miner fan for circulating air from the first portion; wherein the cryptocurrency miners on the second support each comprise a miner fan for circulating air from the third portion; and wherein the cryptocurrency miners are each disposed so that air moved by the miner fan is exhausted into the second portion.

A method of cooling a data center with a plurality of cryptocurrency miners, and with each miner having a miner fan, may include: disposing the miners in an enclosed space; drawing relatively cool air into the enclosed space on a first side of a barrier disposed therein; operating the miner fans to draw the relatively cool air into and through the miners, with the relatively cool air being warmed by convective heat transfer inside each miner, and the relatively cool air thereby being warmed to become relatively warm air; and exhausting the relatively warm air on a second side of the barrier opposite the first side. The method may further include drawing the relatively warm air out of the second side of the enclosed space using at least one exhaust fan.

In some embodiments, the relatively cool air may be drawn into the enclosed space through louvers. The louvers may include at least one barrier for preventing foreign objects from entering the enclosed space.

The method may further include: removing airborne particulate and coolant mist from air entering the enclosed space by passing the air through at least one panel filter.

A temperature difference between the first side of the barrier and the second side of the barrier may be at least 10° C. or at least 20° C. during operation of the miners.

In the method, the cryptocurrency miners may be configured to mine Bitcoin.

The method may further include: disposing the miners substantially on the first side; disposing the miners substantially on the second side; disposing the miners intermediate the first side and the second side; or disposing the miners to protrude into the first side and the second side.

The method also may further include: recirculating the relatively warm air to the first side. The relative humidity of the relatively cool air on the first side may be adjusted when the relatively warm air is recirculated to the first side. A static pressure difference between the first side and the second side may cause relatively warm air from the second side to flow through an opening into the first side. The recirculating may occur without mechanical air handling.

The method also may further include: drawing relatively cool air into the enclosed space on a first side of a second barrier disposed therein; operating the miner fans to draw the relatively cool air into and through the miners, with the relatively cool air being warmed by convective heat transfer inside each miner, and the relatively cool air thereby being warmed to become relatively warm air; and exhausting the relatively warm air on a second side of the second barrier opposite the first side; wherein the relatively warm air is disposed between the second side of the first barrier and the second side of the second barrier.

Also disclosed is a data center that includes an enclosed space, a support disposed in the enclosed space, a plurality of data loggers disposed on the support, and a barrier wall separating the enclosed space into a first portion on a relatively cool side and a second portion on a relatively warm side. The data loggers each comprise a fan for circulating air from the first portion therein. The data loggers are each disposed so that air moved by the at least one fan is expelled into the second portion.

In addition, a method of cooling a data center includes: flowing relatively cool air from a first side of a barrier through a plurality of data loggers each comprising a fan, the relatively cool air warmed by convective heat transfer inside each data logger, and the relatively cool air thereby being warmed to relatively warm air; and discharging the relatively warm air through each data logger and on a second side of the barrier opposite the first side.

Turning to , in a preferred, exemplary embodiment, a data center 10 comprises a container 12 with a front side or wall 14, a back side or wall 16, and a rack assembly 18 with at least one rack 19a, 19b. Each rack 19a, 19b preferably has at least one computing unit 20, which may be a miner or other computer, a processing unit, or a data logger, mounted thereon, a barrier wall 22a, 22b, and a power cable trough 23 with power receptacles 23a for coupling to miners 20 so as to provide power thereto. A network cable trough 27 (such as Panduit® vertical cable management systems) also may be provided for delivering network connections to each miner 20.

Barrier walls 22a, for example, may be provided in sections 22a₁, 22a₂ for ease of installation. Similarly, barrier walls 22b may be provided in sections 22b₁, 22b₂, with section 22b₂ having a smaller width than section 22b1. Preferably, barrier walls 22a, 22b are disposed generally parallel to front side 14 and, along with a barrier wall 22c disposed generally transverse to front side 14 and back side 16, separate a front section 24 where relatively cool air is present from a rear section 26 where relatively warm air is present. A portion of front side 14 comprises a plurality of louvers 28 for permitting air intake. Container 12 further includes a roof 30, a floor 31, at least one fan 32 operated as an exhaust fan and disposed on roof 30, and lockable doors 34 on both ends thereof.

Preferably, barrier walls 22a, 22b, 22c together form a partition (which for example may be made of ⅛ inch thick aluminum sheet) that creates a floor-to-ceiling seal between the relatively cold front section 24 and the relatively warm rear section 26. Rack assembly 18 may be sealed to floor 31 and roof 30, such as by bolting and/or use of foil tape and/or use of sprayable, expandable foam. In a preferred exemplary embodiment, as shown for example in , a foam rubber seal 20a is provided between each miner 20 and partitions 22a, 22b, 22c to provide a seal therebetween and around each opening 25.

In an exemplary embodiment, exhaust fan 32 is a belt drive, upblast, centrifugal, roof exhaust fan, providing air flow of 13, cfm with the fan operating at RPM driven by a 5 hp motor at RPM, which for example requires a roof opening of inches× inches. Preferably, exhaust fans 32 direct relatively warm air out of rear section 26 and away from front intake wall 14 with louvers 28, while also directing noise from components in container 12 upward and away from neighboring areas. Also, exhaust fans 32 preferably minimize positive pressure in rear section 26.

In the exemplary embodiment, louvers 28 are weather louvers designed to protect air intake on front side 14 of container 12. Furthermore, louvers 28 may provide security and privacy so that unauthorized individuals cannot enter container 12 or readily inspect the contents therein in detail. Preferably, louvers 28 incorporate drain gutters in the head member and horizontal blades thereof to channel water to the jambs where water is further channeled through vertical downspouts and out at a sloped sill. Louvers 28 also preferably are designed to withstand wind loads as high as 25 PSF.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, each louver 28 is fitted with an industrial grade, impingement type panel filter in order to remove large airborne particulate and water mist (such as from rain) from the airstream entering front section 24 of container 12. Such panel filters preferably are washable and durable, and create a low resistance to airflow. Moreover, such panel filters may have a rated airflow of fpm, a recommended airflow range of to fpm, a dust holding capacity at 1 inch thick of 68 grams per square foot and at 2 inches thick of 97 grams per square foot, an average arrestance at 1 inch thick of 43% at rated airflow and at 2 inches thick of 53% at rated airflow, and a recommended final resistance of inch W.G.

In one preferred exemplary embodiment, louvers 28 are mounted within a steel frame and are about six inches deep. On the side of louvers 28 facing relatively cool front section 24, a series of screens and/or filters may be coupled to louvers 28 (and held in position for example within an aluminum channel). For example, a bird/critter screen may be provided abutting an insect screen abutting a panel filter for particulate and mist, with the panel filter provided closest to section 24. Screens and filters preferably are formed of metal to facilitate washing. In general, louvers 28 are configured and dimensioned to permit desired airflow into container 12 while keeping foreign objects (such as animals, insects, and dirt) and water out of container 12. Advantageously, the intake area provided by louvers 28 may be configured and dimensioned such that air enters front section 24 at sufficiently low velocity to readily permit filtration thereof.

In the exemplary embodiment, an airflow of , cfm may be achieved through louvers 28 with their screens and/or filters. Louvers 28 with their screens and/or filters are selected to minimize pressure drop across them, so that fans 6 on miners 20 are not overloaded.

In one preferred exemplary embodiment, rack assembly 18 is formed of a plurality of racks 19a, 19b (which for example may be made of aluminum tubing and aluminum sheets) that are all coupled together. In particular, racks 19a may have nine shelves, with each shelf accommodating eight miners 20 with their associated power supplies 8 (not shown). A single rack 19b may have nine shelves each accommodating two miners 20 along with their associated power supplies 8. As shown for example in , rack assembly 18 may be formed of four racks 19a and one rack 19b whose respective barrier walls 22a, 22b together with roof 30, floor 31, a door 34, and a barrier wall 22c form enclosed rear section 26. Thus, in the exemplary embodiment, an array of three hundred and six () cryptocurrency miners 20 are distributed in thirty-four (34) columns and nine (9) rows, arranged on rack assembly 18 and protruding through barrier walls 22a, 22b. Each rack 19a, for example, may be about 8 feet high and 8 feet wide. If it is assumed, for example, that each fan 6 of each miner 20 pulls about CFM of air, then a total of about 61, CFM of air flow is achieved.

Each barrier wall 22a, 22b has a plurality of openings 25 that each are in communication with a back end 4b of a housing 4 of a miner 20, so that relatively cool air from front section 24 may be (1) drawn into each housing 4 by the fan 6 coupled thereto, (2) then cools components of miner 20, and (3) then is exhausted into relatively warm rear section 26 where the warmed air ultimately may be exhausted through exhaust fans 32 disposed on roof 30 and preferably spanning substantially the entire length of rear section 26 from proximate door 34 to proximate barrier wall 22c.

Preferably, relatively cool front section 24 includes a region 24a for accommodating control cabinet(s) and electrical panel boards for data center 10, because such components preferably are maintained in a relatively cool environment.

Miners 20 for example comprise Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miners, and are disposed on rack assembly 18 within a “High Cube” shipping container 12. Such a container has exterior dimensions of 40 feet (L)×8 feet (W)×9 feet six inches (H), and interior dimensions of 39 feet 5 inches (L)×7 feet 8 inches (W)×8 feet 10 inches (H). The container is generally formed of gauge corrugated steel panels as well as 1⅛ inch thick marine plywood flooring on its interior. In an alternate exemplary embodiment, a standard height shipping container (rather than a High Cube), one foot shorter in internal height, is used for container 12. In yet another alternate embodiment, container 12 may be a smaller shipping container such as with exterior dimensions 20 feet (L)×8 feet (W)×8 feet or 8 feet 6 inches (H). An in another alternate, exemplary embodiment, an intermodal container of another size may be used such as a High Cube shipping container 12 with exterior dimensions of 53 feet (L)×8 feet six inches (W)×9 feet six inches (H), and interior dimensions of 52 feet 5 inches (L)×8 feet 2 inches (W)×8 feet inches (H), or a container of a smaller or larger size which for example may be a custom size. Other structures that may provide an enclosed space or container 12 for data center 10, for example, include detachable moving trailers or semi-trailers (such as the enclosed cargo space of a conventional, wheeler semi-trailer truck with dimensions 28 feet (L)×8 feet (W)×9 feet (H)), panel or multi-stop trucks, or other portable structures such as PODS® containers (which for example may have dimensions 7 feet (L)×7 feet (W)×8 feet (H), 12 feet (L)×8 feet (W)×8 feet (H), or 16 feet (L)×8 feet (W)×8 feet (H)). Preferably, containers 12 are portable and provide weatherproofing so as to protect contents therein.

Container 12 advantageously provides sufficient width to be able to accommodate miners 20 and associated power supplies and also provides sufficient height to accommodate access for installation and maintenance. Furthermore, container 12 advantageously provides (1) a structure in which to support the various components of data center 10, (2) protection of those components from the elements such as weather that otherwise could adversely affect the components' operation, and importantly (3) an ability to transport data center from one location to another. As for the latter, data center 10 may be fabricated in one location and then transported by land, air, and/or sea to a delivery location. Such transportability for example permits all or portions of data center 10 (such as rack assemblies 18 and louvers 20) to be pre-fabricated before being shipped to a site (such as a hydroelectric plant) for final installation and operation.

Preferably, cryptocurrency miners 20 employ microchips, but no hard drive, so miners 20 are more tolerant to exposure to cold temperatures.

The design life of an individual miner 20, for example, only may be three years before replacement becomes necessary for example due to obsolescence (e.g., faster technology becomes available) or wear (having been operated for its design life and/or exposed to varying temperatures which impact the operational life). Thus, the modular design of data center 10 facilitates maintenance and, when necessary, removal and/or replacement of individuals miners 20.

Data center 10 is designed to advantageously separate relatively cool air from relatively warm air proximate miners 20. In other words, each of the cryptocurrency miners 20, as previously discussed, includes at least one fan, e.g., a fan 6 coupled to a front end 4a of a miner housing 4, to provide a flow of cool air through and out the back end 4b of miner housing 4. Cool air enters container 12 through louvers 28 and is drawn into each data miner 20 in front section 24. The air then cools the microcircuitry (and heat sinks) in miner 20, and then is expelled through its rear side to rear section 26. Barrier 22 provides a solid wall between front and rear sections, 24, 26, respectively, so that relatively warm air expelled into section 26 cannot recirculate into section 24. The relatively warm air, which potentially could reach ° C., is expelled either through louvers (not shown but preferably the same as louvers 28) on the back side 16 or, in a preferred embodiment, through at least one exhaust fan 32 disposed on roof 30.

Power supplies 8 for miners 20 also generate a limited amount of heat. However, in the exemplary embodiment fans 8a of power supplies 8 eject heat from power supplies 8 into relatively cool front section 24 where fans 6 of miners 20 the circulate that air to the relatively warm rear section 26.

Advantageously, the plurality of data miners 20 are used to circulate air in data center 10, providing cooling without the use of external fans or air conditioning equipment. Advantageously, ambient air thus may be used as cooling air. For example, without using air conditioning equipment to maintain the temperature inside container 12 at about 22° C. (72° F.), ambient air proximate the outside of container 12 is used to cool data center 10 and components thereof such as miners 20. Thus, even outside air at particularly cold temperatures of about 0° C. (32° F.) or particularly hot temperatures of about 40° C. (° F.) may be used to leverage the design of data center 10 and is drawn into relatively cool front section 24 of container 12, e.g. through louvers 28, so that miners 20 operate within preferred operating temperature range, e.g., ° C. (° F.). Data center 10 preferably is operated in a location where ambient temperatures throughout the year do not typically fall outside the preferred operating temperature range of miners 20. Preferably, a control system may be employed to monitor the operating temperature of miners 20 and to cease operation of a miner 20 when its temperature is less than 0° C. (for example dropping as low as −40° C. due to very cold air available for cooling) or greater than 40° C. (for example as high as 85° C. due to very hot air available for cooling).

Advantageously, each data miner 20 provides necessary airflow for its own sufficient cooling, and thus data center 10 can be scaled to essentially any specification. Moreover, because of the modular design of data center 10 with a plurality of miners 20, a failure of any particular miner 20 (or cooling fan thereof) does not impact the cooling of other miners 20 in data center 10 because each miner 20 has its own cooling fan and thus provides its own cooling air flow. Also, this occurs without the need of external cooling or external fans. In contrast, the traditional design of a data center requires air conditioning and/or external fans to compensate for scaling of equipment.

Also, advantageously, in some embodiments, some relatively warm air from rear section 26 may be recirculated to mix with the relatively cool air in front section 24 so as to achieve a desired relative humidity. Because rear section 26 is at a relatively higher static pressure compared to front section 24, no mechanical air handling is needed to provide such recirculation. Rather, only a path need be created such as by providing an opening of appropriate size in barrier wall 22. Optionally, a control system may be used to regulate the recirculation of relatively warm air. Thus, because relatively warm air from rear section 26 may be recirculated to front section 24, it is possible to operate data center 10 at even colder outdoor temperatures, such as outside air as low as about −18° C. (0° F.) or even lower, because once that very cold air enters front section 24 it can be warmed with the recirculated air from rear section 26 prior to flowing through miners 20. Thus, miners 20 could still be operated within their preferred operating temperature range despite the outdoor air having a temperature lower than the minimum of that range.

Moreover, although the miners 20 may have an operating temperature range of ° C. (° F.), acceptable outside air temperatures could be as low as −23° C. (−10° F.) or even lower, because the outside air will be used to cool miners 20 but will not actually maintain miners 20 at that low temperature. Of course, miners 20 (not to mention other components of data center 10) generate considerable heat while operating.

In some embodiments, a temperature difference between the relatively cool front section 24 and the relatively warm rear section 26 is at least 5° C., at least 10° C., at least 20° C., at least 30° C., or at least 40° C.

In some embodiments, to provide enhanced cooling as compared to what is provided by fans disposed on or in miners/data loggers 20, additional fans may be provided to create further air flow to expel relatively warm air from rear section 26, thereby expanding the temperature range over which the miners 20 may be used while reducing wear or stressing of miners 20.

Container 12 may be located proximate a hydroelectric facility, so that inexpensive hydropower may be used to power the miners 20. In an exemplary embodiment, container 12 is disposed in an outdoor environment near the hydroelectric power plant. Preferably, in general, container 12 is sited near a source of power for miners 20 and adjacent a substation. For example, by operating data center 10 near the substation of a hydroelectric plant, data center 10 may be connected to that substation for power. Preferably, the substation has alternate sources of power from which data center 10 may draw power. For example, the substation may permit data center 10 preferably to draw power from a hydroelectric plant or, alternatively, from the electric power grid when power from the hydroelectric plant is temporarily unavailable such as due to maintenance or federally-mandated downtimes.

Preferably, each miner 20 in container 12 is provided with power, internet access, and/or relatively cool air. In addition, preferably control systems in container 12 ensure the provision of power, internet access, and/or relatively cool air to miners 20 and provide remote monitoring thereof to ensure proper functioning.

As shown for example in , each miner 20 fits within a space defined by a pair of opposing angles 36 (which, for example, may be one inch by one inch in width) and is retained in that space using a lateral support plate 37 fastened to angles 36 such that miner 20 is pushed toward and sealed to barrier wall 22a, 22b. Additional space provided adjacent thereto is configured and dimensioned to receive a power supply 8 for each miner 20.

Advantageously, doors 34 are disposed on both ends of container 12. Advantageously, even when a door 34 is opened to relatively cool front section 24, the relatively warm rear section 26 remains sealed.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the electrical infrastructure of data center 10 includes two three-phase sources that enter container 12 at V three phase and feed two panel boards. Each of those panel boards feed a number of 30 amp, three-phase breakers, and each breaker feeds a (10 gauge, 4 conductor) cable (one conductor of the four feeds four miners). Each power receptacle 23a is provided V single phase, and feeds each miner 6 amps. Each of the panels also feeds V LED bulbs on roof 30 inside container 12 in front and rear sections 24, 26. Preferably, twenty-five cables for feeding power to miners 20 come out of the two panels, extend through the partition wall, and into a cable tray in rear section 26, and feed back out through the partition wall into cable troughs 23 where the outlets are located. A two-pole breaker may be provided to feed a small transformer disposed in rear section 26, for providing a V power supply to additional outlets such as for tools, laptop computers, and a network rack. Another three-pole breaker may be provided for feeding a control cabinet; the control cabinet is primarily the power feed for five variable frequency drives which modulate AC current to generate different motor speeds, enabling exhaust fans 32 to be run from 0 to %. Preferably, the control cabinet controls the variable frequency drives (VFDs), which in turn control the speed of exhaust fans 32 which may be varied as a function of temperature and pressure inside container 12, and provides monitoring of temperature, humidity, and pressure using sensors which are read by a programmable logic controller (PLC). A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller may be used to provide control loop feedback. The speed of exhaust fans 32 preferably is adjusted to maintain negative exhaust pressure in the exhaust cavity formed by rear section 26, preferably maintaining exhaust pressure from near 0 to about inches of water. The control parameter from which fan speed may be adjusted, for example, may be the temperature or pressure inside rear section 26. Preferably, the network rack provides internet access to miners 20 and to the PLC; it may be fed from a cable or cellular modem. The various systems preferably permit operation of miners 20 as well as remote monitoring and control of the control system.

Miners 20 may be managed, for example, by a mining pool, which for example comprises a cooperative group of miners 20 operating together to pool resources by sharing computing power over a network, with the pool then sharing mining rewards to flatten revenues to operators of miners 20 in the pool. A mining pool, for example, may pay an operator proportional to the amount of computing power that the operator provides to the pool (which is governed by the number of miners operated by that operator), thereby providing a more constant or revenue stream over time.

Both power and ethernet need to be coupled to each miner 20. To that end, although not shown, in a preferred embodiment a first cable tray is disposed inside container 12 proximate roof 30 and in relatively cool front section 24 for accommodating ethernet cables for miners 20. A second cable tray is disposed inside container 12 proximate roof 30 and in relatively warm rear section 26 for accommodating power cables for powering miners 20 and associated control equipment.

In some embodiments, exhaust fans 32 each incorporate a louver (not shown) that may be opened or closed, so that when a fan 32 is pulling air out of container 12 the louver is in the open state and when not, the louver is closed so that there is no backdraft into container 12. Moreover, exhaust fans 32 preferably incorporate drains so that rain water or other moisture thereon is prevented from entering container 12.

In an alternate embodiment, fans 32 may be disposed on container 12 instead to deliver air to (rather than exhaust it from) relatively cool front section 24, with air in relatively warm rear section 26 being exhausted from (rather than drawn into) container 12 through louvers 28.

As shown in , in yet another embodiment, a data center comprises a container with a front side or wall (not shown but similar to data center 10 and comprising a plurality of louvers for permitting air intake), a back side or wall , and a rack assembly with at least one rack a, b. Each rack a, b preferably has at least one computing unit , which may be a miner or other computer, a processing unit, or a data logger, mounted thereon, a barrier wall a, b, and a power cable trough with power receptacles a for coupling to computing units so as to provide power thereto. A network cable trough also may be provided so that computing units may be supplied with network connections. Barrier walls a, for example, may be provided in sections a₁, a₂ for ease of installation. Similarly, barrier walls b may be provided in sections b₁, b₂, with section b₂ having a smaller width than section b₁. Preferably, barrier walls a, b are disposed generally parallel to the front side of container and, along with a barrier wall c disposed generally transverse to the front side of container and back side , separate a front section where relatively cool air is present from a rear section where relatively warm air is present. Container further includes a roof (not shown but similar to container 12), a floor , at least one fan operated as an exhaust fan and disposed on the roof, and lockable doors on both ends thereof.

The embodiment of data center shown in includes four hundred and eighteen () miners distributed in thirty-eight (38) columns and eleven (11) rows, arranged on rack assembly and exhausting through barrier walls a, b. Notably, although data center includes substantially more miners than data center 10 with miners 20, both are accommodated in the same size “High Cube” shipping container and rack assembly is about the same length as rack assembly 18 (the former being about one inch longer).

As shown in , in still another embodiment, a data center comprises a container with a front side or wall comprising a plurality of louvers for permitting air intake, a back side or wall comprising a plurality of louvers for permitting air intake, and rack assemblies a, b with at least one rack as shown for example in prior embodiments. Each rack preferably has at least one computing unit , which may be a miner or other computer, a processing unit, or a data logger, mounted thereon, and barrier walls a, b. Barrier walls a, b, for example, each may be provided in sections for ease of installation. Data center has a front section disposed between (i) rack assembly a with its associated barrier wall a and (ii) louvers on front side . An intermediate section of data center is disposed between (i) rack assembly a with its associated barrier wall a and (ii) rack assembly b with its associated barrier wall b. Data center also has a rear section disposed between (i) rack assembly b with its associated barrier wall b and (ii) louvers on back side . In other words, data center may be provided with two relatively cool sections and one relatively warm section disposed therebetween.

Preferably, barrier wall a is disposed generally parallel to front side of container and separates front section where relatively cool air is present from intermediate section where relatively warm air is present. Similarly and preferably, barrier wall b is disposed generally parallel to back side of container and separates rear section where relatively cool air is present from intermediate section where relatively warm air is present. Container further includes a roof , a floor , at least one fan operated as an exhaust fan and disposed on roof to exhaust relatively warm air from intermediate section , and lockable doors on both ends thereof. The embodiment of data center may be accommodated in a “High Cube” shipping container.

In one embodiment, rack assemblies a, b with respective barrier walls a, b extend from floor to roof , and from a first end of container proximate doors to a second end of container proximate other doors . In other words, relatively warm air drawn through miners (e.g., just like miners 20) may be substantially trapped in intermediate section for exhausting from container through at least one exhaust fans . In the preferred exemplary embodiment, at least one exhaust fan is disposed on roof so that relatively warm air is exhausted therethrough, but in an alternate embodiment at least one exhaust fan is disposed on a front and/or rear side , , respectively, of container .

Each barrier wall a, b has a plurality of openings a, b that each are in communication with a back end of a housing of a miner (e.g., just like miners 20). Thus, relatively cool air from front section may be (1) drawn into each miner housing by the individual miner (which miner is coupled to rack assembly a and barrier wall a just like miners 20), (2) then cools components of miner , and (3) then is exhausted into relatively warm intermediate section where the warmed air ultimately may be exhausted through exhaust fans disposed on roof and preferably spanning substantially the entire length thereof. Similarly, relatively cool air from back section may be (1) drawn into each miner housing by the individual miner fan (which miner is coupled to rack assembly b and barrier wall b just like miners 20), (2) then cools components of miner , and (3) then is exhausted into relatively warm intermediate section where the warmed air ultimately may be exhausted through exhaust fans disposed on roof preferably above intermediate section .

While various descriptions of the inventions are described above, it should be understood that the various features can be used singly or in any combination thereof. Therefore, the inventions are not to be limited to only the specifically preferred embodiments depicted or otherwise described herein. For example, computing units 20, may traverse the barrier walls (such as protruding partially through the walls and thus protrude into both front section 24 and rear section 26). In addition, in an alternate exemplary embodiment, computing units 20, may primarily or only extend in rear section 26, so long as cooling air still can flow therethrough from the relatively cool portion of container 12. While the use of Bitcoin miners is discussed in detail herein, other cryptocurrency miners may be employed such as for other types of digital currency including but not limited to Litecoin, Dogecoin, Electroneum, Ravencoin, Ethereum, GRAFT, and various types of stablecoin. Also, various types of computing may be employed by computing units 20 such as floating point operators (FLOPS), graphics rendering, or artificial intelligence such as machine learning.

Further, it should be understood that variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the inventions may occur to those skilled in the art to which the inventions pertain. Accordingly, all expedient modifications readily attainable by one versed in the art from the disclosure set forth herein that are within the scope and spirit of the inventions are to be included as further embodiments of the inventions. The scope of the inventions is accordingly defined as set forth in the appended claims.

When I write for this site I like it to be a reflection of my current interests and right now, that is crypto mining. I'll share some of the tips and tricks I've learned over the last month or so building a 6 (soon to be 8) GPU mining rig.

Is it profitable?

Yes.

The basic calculations are quite simple. Take your electricity cost and subtract that from the amount of crypto coin you 'mine' per day. Right now, a GTX ti will mine approx Zclassic (ZCL) per day which equates to £6 (ZCL is at £ today). Minus electric costs of around 60p for 24h and it's a clear profit of £ daily.

I pay p/kWh for my electricity (it is a % renewable plan too so I'm not killing polar bears too badly). per card, per day.

I managed to snag 6x ti's in mid December for £ each. 3 MSI's and 3 EVGA's (the latter are much better, by the way). Assuming a £ price and a £ daily earning the return on investment (ROI) period is around days or just over 4 months. At the the end of that time you own outright a GTX ti.

Now, obviously a GPU on it's own isn't going to do much so you'll need a motherboard, CPU, RAM, boot media, PCI-e risers and most importantly a good quality PSU. In my case I over spec'd and poached a few components from other builds I was doing at the time. But if I lump all that cost into the mining rig I spent £ on the 'PC' bits listed above.

Couple that with the cost of 6x ti's and you're looking at at least £4, Based on today's GPUs prices you cannot build a system for this price. GPUs, and even power supplies, are going for £ now, it's pretty crazy but now you know why They are basically money printing machines!

What is "mining"?

The blockchain. Buzzword of the moment. It's a public ledger of all transactions in chronological order which require the solving of computationally complex problems for verification.

Whenever someone sends Bitcoin, Ethereum or any cryptocurrency these transactions get placed into blocks. These blocks are then confirmed by miners to ensure things like double spends don't happen and that I actually had the balance I said I did in my wallet to send in the first place! Using algorithms these when these blocks are 'solved' a 'reward' is given, usually in the coin that you've just 'mined'. So cryptocurrency mining is the reward given by the blockchain for confirming transactions on the ledger of a given coin.

Hardware

Motherboard - Asus ZP Prime £

Running 8 GPUs off one motherboard requires careful part selection and patience. It took me 3 motherboards to find one that worked properly. Initially I wanted to recycle my Supermicro X11SAE-F board, but that failed to POST with all PCI-e slots populated. Then I tried an MSI ZA Gaming Pro Carbon but that had random issues with not detecting more than 4 GPUs and was just generally rubbish. Finally I purchased the Asus Zp Prime motherboard, flashed the latest BIOS and all 6 PCI-e plus 2 m2 slot with adapters detected cards first time!

CPU - i3 £95

Complete overkill for mining but I will be asking this system to perform double duties as a node in my Openshift/Kubernetes home lab cluster. A good alternative would be the cheaper Pentium chips like the G or G The 4 threads on the i3 are nice to have though!

RAM - Corsair DDR4 32GB used £

Again, complete overkill but the Kubernetes requirement and a good price meant I just went for it.

PCI-e risers £6 each (£48)

The PCI-e risers are really quite nifty. They are PCI-e 1x size at the motherboard end and 16x size at the GPU end. They are powered (more on this in a sec) directly from your PSU and connect back to the motherboard via a USB cable. These components aren't known for their reliability so always order a couple more than you need!

Buy risers with 6 pin (GPU style) connectors as the ones with SATA connectors are a huge fire hazard! The SATA connector is rated at 50w but the PCI-e slot can draw up to 75w!! If you do buy the SATA ones throw the el-cheapo adapter that came with them away and never run more than 1 or 2 risers per cable. I would not do this at all it is just too risky! You have been warned!!

M.2 PCI-e risers £7 each

A nifty way to add more GPUs to a board which has run out of native PCI-e slots is using these M.2 to PCI-e adapters.

Boot Media - 16GB USB £5

This decision largely depends on the software you're going to be using. I'm currently using SimpleMiningOS (SMOS), more on this later, so all I need is a simple USB drive. You can get an SSD if you want but a typical mining rig doesn't need more than a USB unless you're running, shudder, Windows.

GPUs

Obviously this is the most important part of the build. Right now GPU prices are absolutely sky high and everyone and his dog are moaning about it. Jayztwocents put out a video moaning about crypto miners killing gaming. To be clear I don't think miners at the scale I'm talking about here (hobbyists lets face it!) are to blame. Crypto mining farms buying s of cards at a time such as Genesis mining and Bitmain (although they focus more on ASICs) etc are. Demand is outstripping supply right now though and the end result? GPUs are selling for double their MSRP. Honestly you've missed the boat at current prices but when things settle down a bit? Who knows

Power - Seasonic w £ / HP w Server PSU £60

Given the amount of juice you're going to be pulling from the wall there are many considerations to be made outside of the rig before you even consider PSUs themselves. At full load my rig sucks down w and about 7 amps. That's not an inconsiderable constant load on your home electrical system. Fortunately the UK runs at v meaning compared to the US the amperage required is HALF. Please, please, please double check your houses breakers and run at no more than 80% of the rated amperage for that circuit. You may need to spend money here uprating your existing electrical system which obviously affects your ROI potentially quite considerably!

You can buy power supplies that are in the w range but honestly they are just stupid expensive. Therefore I opted to go with a split approach using a Seasonic W PSU for the main system and 3 GPUs. Get a platinum rated PSU if you can and try to run the PSU at less than 80% constant load. In my build this component should ideally be a W PSU but I already had the W to hand.

The other PSU I am using is a reconditioned HP server PSU (DPSFB). I purchased this initially to act as a PSU for my drone racing battery chargers for around £40 (you will not find any for anywhere near that price today - try £+) along with a £20 breakout board that has 10 6-pin GPU connectors on it. I am able to run the remaining 5 GPUs from this PSU. It is rather noisy at this sort of load though, so bear that in mind!

I think if I were to do this again I'd buy two w consumer PSUs so long as I could find them for £ or so each. That's probably unrealistic though as most likely for a 1kw platinum rated unit you're looking at high end £+ units. Something to consider there next time.

Frame - total cost ~£5

I built a custom frame from Plywood that was just otherwise sitting in my shed. There are s of ways to skin this particular cat so I'll just post some pictures of my creation and leave you to make your own!

Extras

Fans and fan splitter hub. These are cheap and readily available. Cooling your rig is important and it's effectively a W (x8) space heater. In winter my conservatory has never been usable, far too cold but with the new space heater - it's lovely and toasty. Come the summer I plan to build a plywood box and put it in my shed with HEPA filters and large box fans to a) keep out the spiders b) keep out the dust c) keep things cool. Guys on Youtube do this in Florida and the Middle East with their crazy hot conditions so a British summer will be warm, but no great problem I'm expecting at this scale.

Software

SimpleMiningOS (SMOS).

It's Linux based. It's simple. It is cheap at $2 per rig per month. SMOS comes with the major miner program pre-baked and is about as simple as it comes for setting up your rig.

A nice straight-forward web UI with overclocking support means I can keep an eye on my rig where I am. This is not a paid endorsement but SMOS is really impressive.

You can of course run the miner yourself but then you need to handle restarts when GPUs fall over, etc. You could run Windows and use Awesome Miner or whatever you like - again there are many ways to skin this cat. I'll leave this section brief and if there is demand (post a comment below) to expand it I will do so in a follow up piece.

Mining hints

• Stick to one coin and try not to switch more than every 24h or so. A great resource is www.oldyorkcellars.com Keep an eye on the (not FIAT) amounts of coin it predicts and compare that your actual output. It's been pretty accurate for me.

• Use a mining pool. You alone do not have anywhere near enough power to find a block which is how you actually get paid. Using a pool means you have to share your block finding profits and most pools take small fee (~1%). I use MiningPoolHub and I find it's Auto Exchange feature very convenient. I exchange to LTC as it has very low TX fees and is supported by Coinbase.

• Overclocking is important but so is undervolting. Mining is all about efficiency. How many watts are you pulling versus how many hashes are you hashing? You will need to tweak your cards yourself but my figures for the ti's are

• Core +

• Mem +

• Power w per card

• Stability is key. Find some stable figures as quick as you can and then leave it. Don't fiddle. Everytime the miner restarts you loose 30 seconds or more of mining time at least. It's tempting to tweak every last hash but honestly the reward is probably so miniscule as that you'll wipe them out with the increased downtime.

Cashing out

The name of the game here is avoiding fees. I do this by auto exchanging my ALTcoins to LTC on Mining Pool Hub and then sending them to Coinbase. From there I send to GDAX (free) and then using a limit order sell the coins for BTC, ETH or FIAT (limit orders are again free). I can then send to my bank or my cold storage wallet for safe keeping.

Conclusion

So that's about it. A 5 week journey documented in 1 article. Should you build a miner? Yes - if your risk profile suits! Maybe wait for GPU prices to calm down a little. You could always start hunting down the other parts for your build though

Or, you could just buy crypto directly.

That's the beauty of life - it's up to you to make of it what you will. Happy mining!

QC1 is the first cryptocurrency heater designed by the french computing company, qarnot. it claims to defray electric bill costs by passively mining ethereum (by default) and other cryptos of your choosing — bitcoin, litecoin — while toasting your room like an overused playstation.

all images courtesy of qarnot

it’s intuitively designed user experience makes mining as difficult as it’s simple initial set up. for about 3, USD, you’ll have to do some math to decide if it’s a good investment. aside from all of that, it’s a sleek little black machine, topped with a clean midcentury-modern strip of wood and a scant amount of dotted, lit-up indicators. it’s all connected to an app.

the process of mining generates heat. a problematic amount of heat. like an over-inflamed part of the body, normally the solution is to bring the heat down with fans and other expensive cooling methods, but with QC1, qarnot has turned the unwanted inflammation into a well-marketed, passively positive feature — a heater for your home. 

it’s hard to say whether this is a computer that passively heats your home, or a heater that passively mines you a volatile, roughly estimated $ of ether per month. but, in the end, both effects can be desirable, depending on the time, place, year, and market value. 

I spent my first 4 years in Bitcoin ignoring mining.

As someone who is entrepreneurial, but not an engineer, I assumed bitcoin mining was technical, something that required hours of financial and on-chain analysis, and not feasible for someone living in an apartment complex.

I was wrong, and I’ll share with you how I came to acquire 2 S9s and built a rig that allows me to home mine and contribute to the bitcoin network in an apartment just under 1, square feet.

Step 1: Secure Miners

I secured miners through a trusted connection in the mining space. If you don’t have that luxury, Kaboomracks is a HIGHLY trusted domestic resource and a great place to start your hunt.

I won’t tell you which miner to buy, but I will explain to you why I found S9s to be an excellent starter for apartment mining:

• An S9 is relatively cheap ($$ depending on source)

• An S9 is relatively lightweight and rugged.

• An S9 is a tried and true platform (nothing fancy or new to break)

• An S9 can run Braiins OS (more on this later)

• While running Braiins OS, you can underclock your miner. Important.

Step 2: Ready Your Miner, Attach to a Pool

When you acquire your miner, first plug everything together.

But before you do that, you should make yourself an account at Slushpool.

Slushpool is a mining pool. Instead of you turning on a miner and trying to find a Bitcoin Block solo (READ: Extremely low chance of finding one), you instead point your hashpower to Slushpool. When anyone pointing their hash towards Slushpool finds a block, everyone in the pool receives a payout of sats relative to their contribution to the pool.

Now back to the miners.

Every miner you own will need a source of power and ethernet connection. You can see above that the S9 consists of the main miner, shaped like a long shoe box with a blue ethernet cable poking out of the front, and a PSU or Power Supply Unit, which has the black cable that goes to the wall.

IMPORTANT: For apartment mining, space is premium. Buy a Powerline Adapter (pictured below) which allows you to run ethernet through the wiring in your house. You will need one ethernet plug per miner.

Your miner, like your phone or computer, has a unique IP address. You must know this address to access the GUI of your miner and make changes to the tuning (This is important to not burn your apartment down or blow fuses. Do not run any miner at full power on wiring that you are not % sure is built for that load.).

By downloading an app that can scan your local network (READ: Everything attached to your router physically or via wifi), you can find the IP of your Miner.

I used Fing. It worked well on Android.

With my miner plugged into the wall and the ethernet cable attached, I navigated to the IP address in my browser and see the GUI for that specific miner.

Next, using the FAQ at Slushpool, I copied a link on their website to where I need to ‘point’ my hash power to show up with Slushpool.

I pasted this link into my Braiins OS “Pool Groups” and gave each miner a name.

Now when I navigate to my Slushpool dashboard, I should see my hashpower recorded by their system. At this point relax and check the links you copy and pasted, nothing broke, it may take a moment.

Congratulations.

If you’ve made it this far, you are successfully contributing to securing the Bitcoin network and stacking sats via your energy bill.

You’ve also inevitably discovered why Michael Saylor thinks of bitcoin miners as Cyber Hornets.

THAT SUCKER IS LOUD.

As you shout to your spouse over the sound of the 75db miner with a fan running at %, you’ll also notice the beads of sweat forming across your brow. That’s because the exhaust venting from the backend of your miner is coming out at Russian Banya temperatures and you are quickly turning your apartment into Aleksander’s favorite after work hangout spot.

If your wife doesn’t immediately file for divorce, she’ll give you the side-eye continuously until you figure out how to make this perpetually running space heater of a device more sound and heat friendly.

Luckily, there is a way.

NOTE:It’s here I would like to give a big shoutout to @_joerodgers, @roninminer, @Arceris_btc, and @SGBarbour for helping me to secure and setup miners, use the Powerline ethernet strategy, and house my miners in a home mining box (in that order).

It started with a Twitter Thread by SG Barbour (you can find it HERE).

If you aren’t already, I also highly recommend following him for all things mining related. He is producing commercial grade equipment and has gone out of his way to design, prototype and sell a version of what I am about to show you.

If you want to buy this box, buy it from him.

(I’m not paid to say this, I appreciate his work and what he has shared.)

Here is the most important image from his Twitter thread:

To make our version, we will need the following:

• 1 Sheet of 4x8 Plywood of your Choice

• 1 Sheet of 4X8 Asphalt Sheeting

• 1 Large pack of Carpet Padding (Like THIS)

• A Staple Gun and Staples

• 4 Wheels for the base (your choice)

• A few pounds of 1in to in wood screws

• Gaffer Tape

• Foam Weatherstripping Tape

• 2 Hinges

• 1 Locking Mechanism of your choice

• One or two Handles (for easier rolling around and lid lifting)

• One Medium Gauge Extension Cord (I’m using 12ft)

• One Extension cord splitter (Like THIS)

• Sound Dampening Panels (I got THESE on Amazon. Quality is hit or miss)

• Two rolls of Two Sided Tape (to attach the sound panels)

• Extra cardboard or acrylic sheeting (for your hot/cold separation)

NOTE:When you buy the plywood and asphalt sheeting from your hardware store, see if they can cut the asphalt sheeting into SIX 16in by 4ft lengths for easier transportation. For the Plywood sheet, have them cut it as close as you can get to the below image.

With your items secured, you will be first cutting your plywood into the above sized pieces. I had the hardware store make a few cuts for me, and I finished the final cuts with a circular saw on my balcony and numbered each with a pencil.

NOTE: It is at this point that I must apologize to my wife for closing the screen but not the sliding door on our balcony and causing a fine layer of sawdust to collect on 60% of our living room.

I can’t offer you a step by step on how to assemble the basic shape, and I’m sure my process was not optimal, but I can give you a sense of what I did and how it worked for me.

• Start with the floor of the hut (#2 on diagram), then add the t-post (#6 and #5).

• Attach these 3 Pieces to one of your walls (#1).

• At this point, I personally used the staple gun to attach a layer of carpet padding to everything. Then I cut lengths of the asphalt board (can be done by hand) and lightly screwed them into the plywood. Making a plywood/padding/asphalt sandwich.

• Making the wings on either side (#4, #4 and #3 pieces) were done separately, foam and asphalt were added, then they were slotted into an empty space I left between the padding and asphalt on the back wall (#1) so the wood was in direct contact with the wood before screwing in.

• Adding the second wall (#1) was difficult and required first, stapling carpet padding to the entire face, then laying the face on top of the open end and tracing the internals with a sharpie. I then cut out the traced portions and added asphalt sheeting over the top. I wish I had a photo here to show you, but the final product let me lay one wall (#1) on top of the above completed half, and the pattern inside slotted in perfectly so wood was contacting wood. At that point I screwed everything in.

• Add your hinges to one end to secure your lid (#2, don’t forget to add carpet padding and asphalt sheeting to the top so that it will slot between the walls and not rest on top of them. This gives a better seal.

• Then, add your wheels to the bottom, your lid handle and your lock to the face of the box (to hold the lid closed).

• You should see roughed edges as you look in the top and either end (inlet/outlet) of the box. I chose to buy some trim at a later date to finish the inlet and outlet, and used the gaffer tape on the top to clean up the top edge.

• You will then use your foam weatherstripping tape to seal the space around the lid for an air and sound-tight rig.

Place your miners in the box and cut a piece of acrylic or cardboard for a hot/cold barrier (very important to ensure airflow in the box)

Install sound dampening foam with 2 sided tape.

Plug each miner and your powerline adapter (ethernet cables go into this) into your splitter, then your splitter to the extension cord.

Run your extension cord to the wall.

If you’ve setup everything correctly, your miners should turn on, connect to the internet, and begin tuning via Braiins OS.

The final step is to use your browser based Braiins OS interface to set a lower wattage on your miners that does not exceed the max wattage of the weakest part of your system. For me, it is my cable, and I keep both miners under 1kwh of total draw to not exceed my cable or wall fixture ratings.

From there, the rest of the fine tuning is up to you!

Happy building and happy stacking.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto mining solutions for reducing heat loads and making cooling from IC chip and graphics boards waste heat

Bitcoin Mining

China's top regulators ban crypto trading and mining, sending bitcoin tumbling

US leads Bitcoin mining as China ban takes effect

China Tightens Crypto Mining Crackdown, Bans Trading