Chia ($XCH) is a Proof of Work (more specifically a Proof of Space & Time or PoST) cryptocurrency that aims to provide decentralized storage by setting aside hard drive (HDD) space and then “farming” that space. By providing space on your HDD, you’re allowed the opportunity to earn a fraction of Chia (like Satoshis for Bitcoin, they’re called Mojos).
Although the coin has recently been covered in great detail by Drew Vosk on the VoskCoin YouTube channel, he is currently focused on mining the coin through Evergreen Plug-and-Play miners, which are HDDs connected to a hub that automatically farm Chia for you without any hassle! Although this is a great addition to the Chia space, the price point may be too steep for beginners. That’s why I decided to try to remove the middleman and farm Chia from my own PC!
Section 1: What You’ll Need
Before we get started, you’ll need a computer, an internal hard drive like this, and/or an external hard drive like this to run the Chia node. This essentially stores the blockchain data and helps your plots connect to the chain. I’m also currently experimenting with running a Chia node from a Raspberry Pi, so be sure to stay tuned for that!
The primary reason you’ll need your PC will be for the process of “plotting” — this is a time-intensive process where the hardware sets aside the space you need for your plots, as well as to house the HDDs. Plotting generally requires powerful hardware, but if your PC is decent enough, you can get it done with some extra time set aside! It all depends on whether you have more time or money: if you have more time = longer plotting, and if you have more money to spend on good equipment = shorter plotting! Needless to say, the more plots you have, the more passive income-earning potential you have.
Each plot is currently around 105GB, but with the inclusion of a new technology known as “compression,” the software can allow plots to reach varying levels of compression — all the way down to around 80GB per plot, which is over HDD space 20% saved!
Compression is a complicated process that we can discuss in the future.
Section 2: Setting Up the Spare PC
If you’re using internal HDDs, like the 6TB I acquired for this, you’ll want to get that installed into your PC. It’s a really simple process, just make sure your PC is unplugged from any power sources and that you safely connect all of the pins and plugs into the drive! Regarding HDD brands, there are debates among the Chia community related to which is the most advantageous for long-term usage, so you can do extra research if you really want to — but any HDD brand will do just fine! There’s no need to overcomplicate the process.
Once the internal drive is installed, you can follow along in the video guide we did on how to activate the HDD as an NTFS storage device if you are running a Windows PC. This will give you access to that HDD.
With your PC connected to the internet, you’ll then want to download the Chia app for your hardware from their official website. Once this is installed, it will begin downloading the blockchain. If you’re well-connected in the VoskCoin community, there are a few individuals who could assist you in getting the blockchain file as a direct download, which would save you literal days of connectivity. Without this file, the node on your PC connects to various other nodes around the world and downloads the blockchain piece by piece. This can take between 5 and 10 days (or even longer!), so it’s definitely worth inquiring about in the VoskCoin HDD Discord server!
Section 3: Plotting and Farming
Once your PC has a fully synced Chia node, it’s time to start plotting! To get started, you’ll need to join a mining pool. We suggest using Spacefarmers.io as your Chia mining pool, but you’re free to look into whichever else you’d prefer.
Thereafter, you’ll create a “Plot NFT,” which links your plots to a mining pool. That’s done by navigating to the “Pooling” tab, and clicking “Create Plot NFT.” After you have done so, you’ll see a randomly named NFT appear with the pool you’re mining to underneath the name. My NFT was named “Amaranth Aardvark,” and you can see that it is linked to the Spacefarmers pool. To log in and view your Plot NFT on the pool, you can click the three dots (burger menu) next to the name and select “Pool Login Link” — this generates a one-time login link that allows you to check your pool status.
Now that you’ve got your Plot NFT, we can begin the plotting process! Head to the “Plotting” tab, and select “Create a Plot.” Thereafter, the process is as follows:
- Select the Plot NFT you just created as the source of your plot’s profits.
2. Select the type of plotter you want to use — for the sake of this beginner guide, run with the Chia Proof of Space plotter.
3. You’ll then have the option to alter your keys for the plot. This is unnecessary, so leave the two addresses that are autofilled as they are.
4. Once you’ve selected your plotter and left your keys as is, you’ll need to select how big the plot should be. K-32 is the standard range, so you won’t need to change this. Keep in mind that as the software is plotting, it will require a minimum of 239GB of free space, which will ultimately condense back down to around 130GB once the plotting process is complete. Make sure you are aware of this and have freed up enough space!
5. Now you’ll select where you want to plot your new plot! If you have a large enough NVME or SSD drive, it is recommended to use that as the temporary plotter, thereafter selecting the slower HDD as the final directory or location of the plot.
6. Finally, there is the option to create multiple plots in a queue. If you want to just set the process and forget about it, you can set this number as high as you are able to (depending on the space you have available for all your plots). Also, because our spare PCs are basic machines, we’ll avoid plotting in parallel as this may bottleneck the process and slow everything down! For starters, just go ahead and create your first plot!
Section 4: Mining and Monitoring
And that’s it! It’s really that simple to get started farming Chia on your spare PC! Once the plotting process begins, you can wait for it to complete, and once it is complete, the plot will show on your Pool NFT as well as on the Pooling tab in the Chia software!
You can then monitor and check your Chia farm profitability from the “Farming” tab, which shows you all of your statistics in real-time. Please note though, that the PC/node will have to be online and connected to the internet in order to farm — just as any other cryptocurrency miner would.
As you can see from the above farming summary, even 4.5TB of HDD space plotted only amounts to around 0.0014 XCH per day (which is around $0.03 at $25 per XCH). Please — above all else — don’t expect to get rich with just a few HDDs and some spare time! This is entirely a venture of passion and technological inquiry. If this sort of thing interests you, please be sure to watch our entire beginner guide and follow along with this guide as well.
Final Thoughts
One final tip that I will give (that can also be found in the video referenced above) is to port forward the 8444 port on your Ethernet router. This can be done by logging into your router (usually by going to the IP address 192.168.1.1 in your browser) and finding the “Port Forwarding” option. This will significantly increase the download speed for your Chia node to sync, so you’ll want to thank me later!
Plotting is also an uninterruptible process — this means that if the PC loses power during the plotting process, you will have to delete all of the “temp” files that were created and start from scratch. This can be a bit of a bummer, but just be sure to keep an eye on your PC and plugs.
Other than that, the process was straightforward and a lot of fun! I’m having a blast plotting my new HDDs, and I hope that you will also find the joy in using spare parts for an opportunity to earn some cryptocurrency! I personally believe Chia has a bright future, so I do not mind holding a few coins that I have mined. I understand that sinking a few $100 into HDDs may not be feasible for many, which is why I encourage you to a) work with what you have and b) search your local second-hand markets for affordable drives. This can save you some serious cash, and potential profits too!
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to subscribe to the VoskCoin YouTube channel where we will be doing a lot more Chia coverage in the coming months!
This is not an endorsement of Chia $XCH cryptocurrency, the Chia company, Evergreen Miners, or financial advice in any form. Please always do your own research.
