The usb stick technology for BitCoin mining is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), these usb sticks mine at 325Mega Hashes a second for those familiar with the terminology and there are seven of them plugged into a D-Link 7 port, powered hub.
One small, mean, hashing machine.
Special mining software has to be compiled on the Pi to make it hash and then it needs to be configured to mine at a BitCoin Mining pool.
The mining pool ensures you help solve a block in a timely fashion and that's why you get paid. You see its a distributed protocol, they make use of your computer over the internet, and in return you get a BitCoin or part thereof depending on the amount of computing power used.
The nice bit about computers is that they can do repetitive tasks, again and again, and they do it very well, they dont get bored like you and I and will work for a length of time until, like most machines, they break. But that could be a in a few years or more.
Now these usb sticks run hot so I have gone one step further and placed them in my production area at my own data centre, in a secure, temperature controlled environment that will keep them cool.
BitCoin as a project is interesting to me. They can be used around the world and transfers are instant. I am learning something new and making use of my technical skills once more, oh and earning some money at the same time, each day, every day, even when I go away on holiday or visit friends.
My mining rig did not stop there, I have never really got the hang of thinking big but this grew and grew, more usb sticks more computers, well you see I have this space to fill up... that keeps me busy, yes, I have been busy, very busy and you can probably guess the rest.
Discovering a system that makes use of technology in this way, with the knowledge I have that can be built on, means there is always more to buy. I now have the space to keep it safe and sound and time to play.
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