Should I mine on server hardware?

Cryptocurrency mining implies receiving a reward for solving the computational tasks necessary for the operation of the system. Depending on the algorithm of a particular cryptocurrency, the speed of calculations is affected only by the speed of the processor or a large amount of RAM is required. In the first case, you can use a powerful server – a computer for cryptocurrency mining or a specialized device – ASIC. In the second – a computer or video card.

In terms of efficiency, for cryptocurrencies whose algorithm does not require a lot of RAM, it is better to use ASICs. These are integrated circuits that include many processors, RAM and ROM, assembled on a single chip. Thus, it is possible to achieve high performance and energy efficiency at an affordable price. In other cases, it is more profitable to mine cryptocurrency on video cards. However, if you already have a powerful server at your disposal, you can try to make money with it. Let's figure out if it is more profitable to buy server hardware or to rent dedicated server (there are a lot of juicy offers like https://deltahost.com/dedicated.html, for example).

Types of coins for mining on server hardware

Gone are the days when you could earn the most popular Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin using a CPU. Since the launch, the complexity of these coins has grown significantly. The same thing happened with the mining equipment used in crypto mining. Therefore, the “bitcoin” is mined only by high-performance “asics”, and the ethereum, which needs a lot of memory to calculate hashes, is mined by modern fast and expensive video cards. Mining these currencies on the processor will not even cover the cost of electricity.

There are still many cryptocoins that can theoretically be mined on servers using the power of their processors. But most of them are not popular and are too cheap for their production to be of practical use.

Given the cost of the coin and the difficulty of mining, two cryptocurrencies can be recommended:

• Monero (XMR);
• ZrCoin (ZRC).

They are among the top popular currencies and can be easily exchanged for popular bitcoins and ETH, as well as for real dollars.

Pools for mining

All transactions in the cryptocurrency network are registered in the registry (blockchain), the data of which is open to system participants. To protect transactions, each group of transactions in the registry must be signed with a cryptographic key that includes information about previous transactions and other data that depends on a particular algorithm. The calculation of the hash requires a lot of computing power, so the processors of the servers on which the blockchain is stored cannot cope with it. This is the job of the computers of the network participants – the miners. The first computer to guess the correct hash is rewarded by the system.

To mine coins, you need to register and connect to a pool — a web resource that unites computers and distributes computational tasks between them to calculate hashes. When the pool picks up a hash, the reward is distributed among all mining participants in proportion to the spent computing power. This increases the efficiency of mining for all pool members. The latter receives a certain percentage of the mined "crypto" for his services.

Therefore, single mining is real only for owners of huge farms with a fantastically large hashrate. All other miners do it exclusively through pools. You can use one of the following resources:

• Minergate.com;
• MiningPoolHub.com;
• MoneroOcean.Stream;
• Cryptofriends.org
• SebuMine.net.

To do this, you need to register on the resource, download the appropriate miner program that supports working with the selected web resource. Often the program can be found in the "Download" section. Setting up the miner is to register the address of the pool server and the username.

System

To check mining through the server, "systems" were used:

• a computer based on two Xeon E5-2650 processors for Monero;
• computer with a pair of Intel Xeon L5320 for Zcash

The choice fell on them because of the low price in the secondary market. Why you should not buy new servers for the sake of mining cryptocurrencies, you will find out at the end of the article.

So, after installing and configuring the mining software, the Monero server showed a mining performance of more than 520 hashes per second. The hashrate is equal to that of a top-end video card. However, it is only enough to earn a little more than $ 10 a month, if you count at current prices. For mining a couple of cryptocurrencies using Nvidia and AMD video cards, this is acceptable, but in the form of independent earnings, this is of no interest. And even buying the most modern and expensive processor does not make mining profitable. The payback of such a business is more than two years, and this is without taking into account the increase in network complexity over the billing period.

Mining ZEC showed even worse results. The hash rate was less than 4 sol/s, which is not enough even to cover the cost of electricity.

If you want to start crypto mining with minimal investment, it is better to go cloud mining. Cloud mining services provide their equipment for rent to mine bitcoin, ether and other digital currencies. The tariff plan provides for the rental of capacities on a virtual server in order to receive coins mined with its help. This reduces the threshold for entering the business and the risks in the event of a sudden drop in the cryptocurrency rate.