2 min read

Bitcoin Mining Pools

November 22, 2017

Bitcoin Mining Pools Need to Be Minded.

You need to mind your bitcoin mining pools the same way any shop owner needs to mind the store. In the last 24 hours I’ve seen this firsthand. Prepare to be astounded and amazed at how performance among bitcoin mining pools can vary…

Slushpool (my first choice in Bitcoin mining pools) has been throttling performance somehow over the past 24 hours. I have three Avalon miners.

Here’s my bitcoin mining scorecard as of 2 PM PST today:

Unit 1 is an Avalon Miner 721 on its own controller on Slushpool.

Units 2 & 3 are Avalon Miner 741s sharing a controller on Slushpool.

Units 2 & 3 have been cranking out 16.5 TH/s steadily until yesterday. All three bitcoin miners combined were cranking out an average of 23 TH/s.

The Avalon controller charts and Slushpool’s own statistics were in sync.

My own hardware charts showed 23 TH/s on average up until the last 24 hours. NOW I haven’t been able to get past 17.5 TH/s between ALL THREE UNITS for over 24 hours according to Slushpool. That’s nearly a 25% drop in productivity. WTF?

Bitcoin mining being as much a science as an art I tried an experiment. Then things got really interesting…

I signed up for Bitminter about an hour ago and deployed Units 2 and 3 to Bitminter while leaving Unit 1 on Slushpool. Units 2 and 3 are now approaching 16 TH/s on my hardware chart which is reflected in Bitminter. Units 2&3 have a peak of 16.5 so we’re just about where we want to be. MIND YOU – I didn’t “reboot” or otherwise cycle power on the two units. I just changed the worker pool settings. Those puppies kept humming along as I switched pools.

Here’s my bitcoin mining scorecard as of 3 PM PST today:

Unit 1 is an Avalon Miner 721 on its own controller on Slushpool.

Units 2 & 3 are Avalon Miner 741s sharing a controller on Bitminter.

NOW THEN — Between three miners deployed across two different bitcoin mining pools I’m at 21.2 TH/s and climbing back up to to where they belong.

Why are there such performance discrepancies among mining pools? When I find the answer you’ll be the first to know.

Moral of the story — Bitcoin mining pools – and bitcoin mining itself – can NEVER be a “set it and forget it” situation. You need to keep on watching operations like a hawk.

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