Anyone can become a ThreeFold farmer by connecting standard computers to the ThreeFold Grid as 3Nodes. This guide is for those who want to purchase or build their own nodes, rather than using hardware provided by ThreeFold. We’ll cover what kind of systems are compatible and how to optimize your setup.
How many tokens will I receive?
Let’s get this one out of the way. The short answer is that the number of tokens a node farms depends on several factors. Farming rewards are designed to fairly compensate farmers based on the value of their contributions to the grid. As ThreeFold grows, the model for token distribution sometimes changes.
The constant goal is to create an attractive investment over a five year period. If you are looking for quick gains, farming might not be for you. To learn more about how rewards are calculated, see this wiki page. Or head straight to the simulator to run your own calculations.
What kind of hardware is supported?
A 3Node can be any reasonably modern 64-bit computer with an Intel or AMD processor, running ThreeFold’s Zero OS. The team has had some success testing ARM based devices, but supporting them is not currently a priority.
Each node also needs a minimum of one solid state disk (~500gb) and a bare minimum of two gigabytes of random access memory. USB based external drives are not supported, due to reliability concerns.
Servers, desktops, and mini computers are preferred over laptops. No graphics capability or display is required, although it may be helpful during boot configuration or if troubleshooting is necessary. You can check out some other farmers’ rigs in this thread.
How many watts?
Power efficiency is a key consideration for farmers. Spending less on electricity means more earnings. A small form factor server may be much more power efficient than a gaming PC with similar specs (the Grid does not currently support GPUs). Knowing exactly how much power a system will draw can be complicated, but some manufacturers provide more detailed estimates than the watt rating of a power supply.
How much RAM?
It’s recommended to have a minimum of four gigabytes of RAM for each virtual CPU. There are generally two vCPUs per physical CPU core, so that equals eight gigabytes per physical core. The recommended upper limit is eight gigabytes per vCPU—beyond that, adding RAM does not increase the number of tokens farmed. For example:
- 4 physical CPU cores (8vCPU): 32-64 GB of RAM
What kind of internet connection?
A wired network connection should be considered essential for maximizing reliability and your node’s ability to farm. Any domestic high speed internet plan is adequate for a basic node. If you are planning to offer more than a few terrabytes of storage, a gigabit or faster connection may be necessary to support the traffic. Your node only needs bandwidth when it is being utilized to store or retrieve data. That means you could scale up your connectivity as utilization of your node grows. The Grid is designed with IPv6 in mind, but IPv4 is sufficient for now.
How to boot it?
Zero OS may be booted either from a USB stick (the boot image is tiny, so any size drive will do) or over a network via PXE. In either case, the latest software will be downloaded and cryptographically verified before boot. After the first boot, Zero OS will update itself automatically and requires virtually no maintenance.
What next?
If you have more questions, check out the farming FAQ.
When you’re ready to start farming, check out these resources to get started:
- Farming section in the Grid manual
- In depth step by step guide that covers the process from the manual in more detail