Choosing the Right Switch for your Crypto Mining Network

What to Look for in Network Hardward for Crypto

Crypto mining is a popular way to try to make money. In its simplest form, miners use simple setups that make a few extra bucks here and there. In extreme cases, miners dedicate entire warehouses of hardware to mining, and when they are efficient enough, they can make big money.

Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, mining can only work when your devices reliably connect to the internet. So, you need the appropriate networking hardware to get the most out of your efforts. In that light, we can look at some of the traits that will prove the most valuable for a crypto mining network switch.

Minimize Energy Costs

The purpose of mining cryptocurrency is to make money. Since that’s the point, it’s important to understand the cost analysis that goes with this endeavor. You need to figure out your overhead costs, and when you take a close look at them, you’ll find that energy is a major component.

For the most part, you have equipment costs — which are primarily a startup cost — and energy costs. You’ll be looking for ways to cut energy consumption anywhere you can in order to lower those costs. You will want to look for network switches with low energy consumption that will still perform the functions that you need.

If you can lower your energy costs, it lowers your total overhead and improves your profit margin. Your mining can make more money by first saving money.

Worry About Heat and Cooling

As you delve deeper and deeper into understanding your primary energy costs, you’ll see that much of the power consumption is related to cooling and heat management. If you’re running more than a simple, single rig, heat is going to creep up on your mining operation, and you'll have to expend a lot of energy to keep things cool. If you fail in this, heat will impact the performance of your machine(s), and you’ll be losing money in no time.

But, active cooling uses a lot of power and drives up the cost of crypto mining. So, you want to look for devices with the most effective passive cooling options. Additionally, they need to be able to handle the levels of heat generation that exist in your mining location, but passive cooling helps you save considerably on power consumption. Most switches have passive cooling and can have redundant fans installed to help you avoid overheating.

Remote Management Is Valuable

Aside from minimizing power and cooling costs, you also want to maximize uptime. If you purchase mining equipment and it doesn’t mine, then the money is wasted. It’s a pretty simple concept.

One of the easiest ways to maximize uptime is to invest in remote management. You can’t be physically next to your mining hardware at every minute of every day. Instead, you can use remote management features and options to access your crypto mining devices even when you’re away. This helps you plan around potential downtime and maximize the use you get out of your hardware investments. With the right switch you can set up remote management in a breeze to be able to monitor and control your network.

Bottomline on Choosing a Switch

All three of these concerns are important if you want to make money off of your crypto mining. Without carefully considering them, it’s easy to overextend and lose money, even if you’re successfully mining coins.

You can find a network switch that has remote access, passively cools, and minimizes energy costs. They do exist, and making the smart investment will help you turn a profit sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, you’ll need to apply these principles to all of your mining hardware. Efficient equipment can maximize your profits and make the endeavor worthwhile. If you don’t do diligent research, it will prove easy to waste money and fail to net good returns.

If you don't see what you need or if you have questions, let us know. We would love to assist you with your network hardware, server, power cord, or cabling needs as you build out your mining network.

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