At first, there were only CPUs, then GPUs, for the exploitation of Bitcoin. Then came the powerful ASIC in 2013, and with him, the “Shoebox” form factor which has become emblematic of the Bitcoin mining industry.
What comes next? Will the design of the shoe box persist as standard for Bitcoin Mining ASIC? Or another form factor that is more like traditional data servers win?
ASIC manufacturers are betting more and more on them – or at least that a Hydro -Refroidian server rack design will become a substantial part of Bitcoin extraction fleets. In addition, they look at the “direct on chip” cooling for new efficiency gains.
Last September, Bitmain announced its U3S21EXPH model (a bit of a bite, eh?) Developed in partnership with Hut 8. Its U3 design means that a unit occupies three spaces in a traditional server rack. Microbt quickly followed with its Hydro M63 series, as is the hydroelectric unit of Bitdeer’s Sealmin A2.
According to the costume, Auradine published her model of servers rack, the AH3880, in March. Its U2 design, which occupies two server locations, is a little smaller, but it contains more hashrate per unit of space at 600 TH / S (or 300 TH / S per location) against 860 TH / S of bitmain (286.66 TH / S per location).
Shoe box
So what’s with the traditional shoe box switch? For Auradine, this is customer demand.
“”[Our new model is] Based on many comments that we have obtained from our minor customers … We worked with minors even throughout the design process, “said Auradine CSO Sanjay Gupta on the most recent mining pod.” They told us that they were looking for a quality hydroelectric minor. “
In its partnership with Bitmain for the U3S21EX, “Hut 8 played a decisive role in the personalized design for infrastructure, in particular the form factor which is compatible with HPC style architecture”, told Hut 8 relations with relations with investors, Sue Ennis, BlockSpace Last September. (More on the high performance computing angle later).
The advantage of a Rack Asic server is standardization. Bitcoin minors are walking more and more with the traditional data centers industry, and this industry could see 40% adoption of direct chip cooling by 2026, according to the developer of the Cyrus One data center.
If minors adopt this conception, then theoretically, they can optimize their supply chains by converging on servers of servers that become best practices in the Big-Boy data center sector.
This could facilitate the construction and repair of Bitcoin mines. And this could also make mining companies more agile if they want to flex Bitcoin extraction and in other forms of calculation.
Enter AI and HPC
As with so many new mining today, of course, the spectrum of AI is looming in the background.
If minors build their data centers with traditional servers rack conceptions, there is one point of less pain if they want to renovate these sites for AI and HPC loads. Of course, they would still need to increase the tendons, muscles and veins of their operations with more robust networks and electrical infrastructure, but the servers racks would provide a spine for the AI / HPC services which require less restructuring than the inherited Bitcoin mines. As Ennis said, “the U -shaped factor … is compatible with HPC style architecture.”
Echoing this, Gupta said in our mining pod interview that “[The U form factor has] been used for the AI data center. It’s easy to adjust. It has a high [power] density to her … [it] is also extremely relevant for AI data centers, and we are examining a joint strategy between AI for HPC and Bitcoin exploitation. Thus, the U -shaped factor works well with this. »»
Who buys him?
Perhaps no need to say that the server rack form factor for Bitcoin extraction is still in its infancy, and although it is promising that such a design could win, there is no guarantee.
To begin with, bitcoin minors will not only have to rework the bowels of their mines, but also completely reclassle their electrical infrastructure (which is unlikely to occur in existing mines).
Brad Cuddy de Cholla, who operates ASIC minors by Hydro-Refupess, told BlockSpace last September that he is delighted to see the passage of the design of the shoe box to the [server rack] factor of form. “But he said that the U3S21Ex tension range is incompatible with certain electrical infrastructure that minors use with other Bitmain models.
“The restricted beach from 380 to 415 volts reduces its compatibility for modernization. I would have liked to see the tension range to go up to 480 volts to allow more interoperability with current infrastructure deployments, “he said.
As such, it is likely that we will see minors join these units on new sites. HUT 8 adopts this approach with plans to accommodate 15 U3S21EX EH / S units for Bitmain (with a purchase option) on its Vega, Texas site, which should start working in T2.
Until now, Hut 8 is the only public buyer of U3S21Exph of Bitmain. GUPTA did not reveal what minors are under contract for his AH3880, but he said that they understood several private and public minors on an industrial scale. It would not be surprising to see Mara, one of the main partners of Auradine, who also invested more than $ 50 million in the company, adopts the model.
If the Vega de Hut 8 site takes place gently on the Bitmain model, and if we assume that Mara will deploy aura, public minors can direct where the others will follow, and we could see a new factor of form slowly infiltrate in the design of the modern mine.
