1 month ago
In the beginning, determination were lone CPUs, past GPUs, for bitcoin mining. Then came the mighty ASIC successful 2013, and with it, the “shoebox” signifier origin that has go emblematic of the bitcoin mining industry.
What comes next? Will the shoebox plan persist arsenic modular for bitcoin mining ASICs? Or volition different signifier origin that much resembles accepted datacenter servers triumph out?
ASIC manufacturers are progressively betting connected the second – oregon astatine least, that a hydro-cooled server rack plan volition go a important information of bitcoin mining fleets. Moreover, they’re leaning into the “direct-to-chip” cooling for further ratio gains.
Last September, Bitmain announced its exemplary U3S21EXPH (a spot of a mouthful, eh?) developed successful a concern with Hut 8. Its U3 plan means that 1 portion takes up 3 spaces successful a accepted server rack. MicroBT soon followed with its M63 Hydro series, arsenic did Bitdeer’s Sealminer A2 Hydro unit.
Following suit, Auradine released its server rack model, the AH3880, this March. Its U2 design, which occupies 2 server slots, is simply a spot smaller, but it packs much hashrate per portion of abstraction astatine 600 TH/s (or 300 TH/s per slot) versus Bitmain’s 860 TH/s (286.66 TH/s per slot).
Shoebox out
So, what’s with the power up from the accepted footwear box? For Auradine, it’s each astir lawsuit demand.
“[Our caller exemplary is] based upon a batch of feedback that we got from our miner customers … we've been moving with the miners adjacent passim the plan process,” Auradine CSO Sanjay Gupta said on the astir caller Mining Pod. “They indicated to america that they were looking for a prime hydro based miner.”
In its concern with Bitmain for the U3S21EXPH, “Hut 8 was instrumental successful the customized plan for the infrastructure, peculiarly the U signifier origin which is compatible with HPC benignant architecture,” Hut 8 Head of Investor Relations Sue Ennis told Blockspace past September. (More connected the precocious show computing space later).
The payment of a server rack ASIC lies successful standardization. Bitcoin miners are progressively marching successful measurement with the accepted datacenter industry, and that manufacture could spot 40% adoption of nonstop liquid-to-chip cooling by 2026, according to information halfway developer Cyrus One.
If miners follow this design, past theoretically, they tin optimize their proviso chains by converging connected server designs that are becoming champion signifier successful the big-boy information halfway sector.
This could marque gathering and repairing bitcoin mines easier. And it could besides marque mining companies much nimble if they privation to flex retired of bitcoin mining and into different forms of compute.
Enter AI and HPC
As with truthful overmuch mining quality today, of people the spectre of AI is looming successful the background.
If miners conception their information centers with accepted server rack designs, determination is 1 little symptom constituent if they privation to retrofit these sites for AI and HPC loads. Of course, they’d inactive request to augment the sinews, muscles and veins of their operations with much robust networking and electrical infrastructure, but server racks would supply a backbone for AI/HPC services that requires little restructuring than bequest bitcoin mines. As Ennis enactment it, “the U signifier origin … is compatible with HPC benignant architecture.”
Echoing this, Gupta said successful our Mining Pod interrogation that “[The U signifier origin has] been utilized for the AI information center. It’s casual to adjust. It’s got a precocious [power] density to it … [it] is highly applicable for AI information centers arsenic well, and we are looking astatine a associated strategy betwixt AI for HPC and Bitcoin mining. So the U signifier origin works good with that.”
Who’s buying it?
Perhaps needless to say, the server rack signifier origin for bitcoin mining is inactive successful its infancy, and portion determination is committedness that specified a plan could triumph out, there’s nary guarantee.
To start, bitcoin miners volition not lone request to rework the innards of their mines but besides wholly rewire their electrical infrastructure (which is improbable to hap astatine existing mines).
Cholla’s Brad Cuddy, which operates hydro-cooled ASIC miners, told Blockspace past September that “he’s excited to spot the displacement from the shoebox plan to the [server rack] signifier factor.” But helium said the U3S21EXPH’s voltage scope is incompatible with definite electrical infrastructure that miners usage with different Bitmain models.
“The restricted scope of 380 to 415 volts reduces its compatibility for retrofitting. I would person liked to spot the voltage scope spell each the mode up to 480 volts to let for much interoperability with existent infrastructure deployments,” helium said.
As such, it’s apt that we’ll spot miners integrate these units astatine caller sites. Hut 8 is taking this attack with plans to big 15 EH/s of U3S21EXPH units for Bitmain (with an enactment to purchase) astatine its Vega, Texas site, which is owed to commencement operating successful Q2.
So far, Hut 8 is the lone nationalist purchaser of Bitmain’s U3S21EXPH. Gupta did not uncover which miners are nether declaration for its AH3880, but helium did accidental they see respective concern standard backstage and nationalist miners. It wouldn’t beryllium astonishing to spot MARA, 1 of Auradine’s cardinal partners which has besides invested upwards of $50 cardinal successful the company, follow the model.
Should Hut 8’s Vega tract tally smoothly connected Bitmain’s model, and if we presume that MARA volition deploy Auradine’s, nationalist miners whitethorn pb wherever others volition follow, and we could spot a caller signifier origin dilatory seep into modern excavation design.
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