Proof-of-Space mining is one of the many forms of crypto mining, below we will explore what it is and what hardware is required to Proof-of-Space mine
In crypto there are many forms of mining. However, this article is only going to focus only on Proof-of-Space mining.
But first, you may be asking what exactly is Proof-of-Space mining?
What is Proof-of-Space Mining?
"Proof of space (PoS) is a type of consensus algorithm achieved by demonstrating one's legitimate interest in a service (such as sending an email) by allocating a non-trivial amount of memory or disk space to solve a challenge presented by the service provider". (Proof of space). Proof-of-Work (PoW) is very similar to Proof-of-Space, yet so different at the same time. "Proofs of space are very similar to proofs of work (PoW), except that instead of computation, storage is used to earn cryptocurrency. Proof-of-space is different from memory-hard functions in that the bottleneck is not in the number of memory access events, but in the amount of memory required" (Proof of space).
Now there are several other consensus algorithms that are pretty much the same as Proof-of-Space, but with a different name. These include Proof-of-Capacity and Proof-of-Space-Time. "A proof of capacity is a system where miners are allowed to pre-calculate ("plot") PoW functions and store them onto the HDD" (Proof of space). "A proof of space-time (PoST) is a proof that shows the prover has spent an amount of time keeping the reserved space unchanged. Its creators reason that the cost of storage is inextricably linked not only to its capacity, but to the time in which that capacity is used. It is related to a proof-of-storage (but without necessarily storing any useful data)" (Proof of space).
What is required to mine Proof-of-Space Tokens?
Hardware
Now the hardware requirements vary from project to project, but here are the minimum requirements of three of the most popular Proof-of-Space mining projects:
Chia:
CPU: "Quad-core 1.5GHz" (Gates).
RAM: "2GB" (Gates).
OS Storage: 256GB HDD
Mining Storage: 128GB HDD
Software: "Python 3.7" (Gates).
SCPrime:
CPU: "2-4 non-obsolete CPU cores" (Provider requirements/configs).
RAM: "4GB" (Provider requirements/configs).
Mining Storage: "500GB" (Provider requirements/configs).
Software: "64-bit OS" (Provider requirements/configs).
Storj:
CPU: "One (1) processor core dedicated to each node service" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
Mining Storage: "8TB" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
Bandwidth:
"Minimum of 2 TB of bandwidth available per month" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
"Minimum of 5 Mbps bandwidth upstream" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
"Minimum of 25 Mbps bandwidth downstream" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
Uptime: "Minimum uptime (online and operational) of 99.3% per month, max total downtime of 5 hours monthly" (Step 1. Understand Prerequisites).
Crypto
Now with any crypto project, you will most likely need to hold a bit of the crypto you are trying to mine to pay for gas fees. So I suggest holding at least 1 of each crypto you are trying to mine.
However, sometimes a project does not require you to hold the crypto for the gas fees. If you are interested in a project I would refer to their documentation on this piece of information.
Citations
Gates, Barry. “How to Mine Chia (XCH): Easily Farm Crypto with Your Storage Drives.” Art of PC, 20 Mar. 2022, https://artofpc.com/how-to-mine-chia/.
“Proof of Space.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Dec. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_space.
“Provider Requirements/Configs.” Provider Requirements/Configs - ScPrime Documentation, https://docs.scpri.me/diy-getting-started/provider-requirements-configs.
“Step 1. Understand Prerequisites.” Storj Node Operator Docs, https://docs.storj.io/node/before-you-begin/prerequisites.