When do we get paid for being a farmer for V3 Alpha/Beta? Or don’t we get paid? How much?
The network currently in the alpha stage for Developers called Beacon, the Storage Nodes Operators are earning STORJ tokens for the capacity and bandwidth they provide on the network.
To start your v3 node you need to have an authorization token from the invite. Subscribe to the waitlist now!
Please, read the blog Sharing Storage Space for Fun and Profit.
How much money am I going to make on V3 compared to V2?
The pricing for Storj V2 was $1.5/TB of used space per month online and $30/TB of downloads by customers per month.
The price was set at that level because we had to store a high number of mirrors. The renter pays 15$ per month to upload 1 TB of their data. With Reed-Solomon erasure encoding, the total size of data stored inflated to 2 TB and the resulting shards were stored on 6 farmers. At the end, 12 times as much space as the original file size was actually occupied on the farmers storing all the shards and mirrors. Storj Labs also needs to earn some money to pay their developers and for infrastructure maintenance costs.
For the V3 network, we hope to be able to provide higher payouts to storage node operators, and a lower price for the renters for storing their files.
At the moment, the storage node in v3 alpha will be paid $1.5/TB of used space, $10/TB of egress (outgoing traffic) for repairs and $20/TB of egress downloads.
You can use the Storage Node Payout Estimator to get an idea.
How much storage do I need to share to be able to use Storj for free or to make a profit?
Since Storj is a decentralized network, Storage Node Operators will compete to win the business of users, based on reputation score, bandwidth and availability. How much you earn is also dependent on how much demand there is for the service.
Minimum Recommended Storage Node Requirements:
- A minimum of one (1) processor core dedicated to each storage node service
- A minimum of 500 GB with no maximum of available space per node
- 2 TB of bandwidth available per month; unlimited preferred
- 5 Mbps bandwidth upstream
- 25 Mbps bandwidth downstream
- Online and operational 99.3 % of the time per month (MAX total downtime of 5 hours monthly)
Preferred Storage Node Requirements:
- A minimum of one (1) processor core dedicated to each node service
- A minimum of 8 TB and a maximum of 24 TB of available space per node
- 16+ TB of unmetered bandwidth available per month; unlimited preferred
- 100 Mbps bandwidth upstream
- 100 Mbps bandwidth downstream
- Online and operational 99.5% of the time per month
Complying with the above specifications will improve your ability to store information and earn STORJ on the V3 network.
You can use a Storage Node Payout Estimator to get an idea.
Can I set conditions about the purpose which my space I offer for rent can be used for?
Because Storj provides secure zero-knowledge encrypted storage, it’s almost impossible to know what type of data is being stored. However, third-party service providers, developers, and apps wishing to utilize the Storj network can elect to restrict the types of files and uploads that may be stored on the network through their front-ends.
Can I share an external disk drive or other sources?
Yes you can, any disk drive that your operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux) recognizes as an attached (mounted) drive can be selected from within the storagenode application.
However, the external disks are not recommend, they don’t reliable enough, they going offline very often because of low power or USB controller overheats. The network connected drives could work, but it’s not supported setup.
How important is download speed and bandwidth?
The two most significant factors that will impact your success as a farmer (now called Storage Node Operator) are the uptime of your node and your available bandwidth. Your upload speed will govern the amount of data that can you can store and serve in a timely manner. The problem comes when you have bandwidth caps from your ISP. If bandwidth caps limit your ability to store and serve data, your node reputation will be impacted along with your ability to get data in the future. Your system then has to refill terabytes of data on a slow line. But, if you have a lot of bandwidth and high or no bandwidth cap, you can be very successful.
Is an account required to rent out drive space?
No. You do not need to create an account to start earning STORJ tokens by renting your drive space.
All you need to do is run the storage node software and configure it properly.
Note that the V2 network is deprecated as we are testing the network V3, so it is not recommended to start farming with new nodes on V2 now. You can learn about how to sign up to become a Storage Node Operator on the V3 network here.
When will I get paid & how are payments calculated?
Payments are made once a month. So if you begin a Storage Node Operator right now, you will not receive a payment until early next month.
To receive payment next month, (1) your setup should be configured correctly (see the Documentation here, (2) you should have data stored on your disk since before the end of the month you are expecting payout for, (3) your uptime should be above 99.3% which translates to a maximum of about 5 hours 6 minutes 48.2 seconds of downtime a month (see the article “If the space I’m sharing goes offline, what happens to the data I’m storing?” and blog Early feedback from V3 storage node operators: You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers!).
The payment are only calculated on a monthly basis, after the month the payout is for has concluded.
To check on the status of your payment v2 for a given month, you can visit the Farmer Payout v2 Webapp and enter your payout address.
For the v3 there is no public site yet, the SNOboard on the development.
You can use the script to calculate your earnings from the article Calculate the current earnings for v3
Payments are calculated based on your usage metrics, these include:
- Amount of stored data (must be continuously available throughout the month).
- Bandwidth used for paid downloads by customers.
- Bandwidth used for paid downloads for audits or repair.
When is the estimated date I can try out V3 and start farming?
We are currently in the Beacon alpha stage of testing our new V3 network. During this stage, we still invites Storage Node Operators to participate. In order to get on the wait list to participate in testing as a Storage Node Operator, please sign up here to be contacted once we are ready to send you the instructions how to download and install our new Storage Node Operator software and authorization token to sign your identity.
You can use the Storage Node Earnings Estimator to get an idea about payments.
If the space I’m sharing goes offline, what happens to the data I’m storing?
When a file is downloaded, the application only downloads the minimum number of shards required to reconstitute a file. If your node is offline when a download is attempted, the network will route around your node, and download shards from other nodes. If your node fails to respond to a valid download request, you will not earn STORJ for the egress bandwidth and your node reputation will be impacted.
To be considered a reliable Storage Node Operator, you should keep your uptime above 99.3% which translates to a maximum of about 5 hours 6 minutes 48.2 seconds of downtime a month (see the blog Early feedback from V3 storage node operators: You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers!).
Is the V3 storage node wait list still open?
When we grant access to the new V3 network, we will be allowing new storage node operators onto the network slowly over time. We’ve broken the storage node operators into groups, based on a few criteria, including: data gathered during reliability tests we ran in early August 2018, the number of nodes users were previously running, and when they registered for the waitlist. If you’re on the waitlist, you won’t have to wait long to be given access. We plan to let storage node operators onto the network soon. If you have signed up for the waitlist, please watch for an email from our team, which will have more details about how to join the network once your group receives its invites.
Where can I check my farmer v2 payout?
Want to know how much your payout will be in v2, didn’t get it, or want to dispute your payout?
Please go to our Farmer Payout v2 Webapp to do so.
For the v3 there is no public site yet, the SNOboard on the development.
You can use the script to calculate your earnings from the article Calculate the current earnings for v3
What does the info on the payouts dashboard v2 mean?
On the Storj Share Dashboard users can search for their Storj Share (v2) payments for specific month(s).
The following table should appear if a payment was found for a specific month;
your specific address;
- Wallet address → Your STORJ payout address.
- GB Hours (GBh) → 1 GB stored for 1 h = 1GBh.
- Bytes downloaded → Amount of data the renter downloaded from you. Important to note is that this is not the total upload bandwidth that you see from your side. The reason for this is that not all upload bandwidth is paid for (e.g. file repair uploads are free on the V2 network).
- TB stored → Total amount of stored data, in TB.
- TB download → Same as Bytes downloaded but this time in TB.
- Payout → Your final payout for that specific month, in USD equivalent (you will actually be paid in STORJ tokens at the current exchange rate at time of payout).
You can hover over each value to get an explanation in a tooltip.
You can click the wallet address to see payments received on etherscan.io.
Why was my payout incorrect?
If you feel your payout was incorrect and would like to dispute it, please do the following;
For the v2 network
- Visit the Storj Share dashboard (v2) support page and look up your payout here.
- Take a screenshot of your payout stats, fill in your info and run the corresponding scripts as described in the payout dispute form here.
This will create a support ticket so we can have our data scientist re-examine if any error has occurred in the payout statistics calculations, based on your submitted information.
For the v3 network
- Calculate the current earnings for v3
- Send a support request to the support@storj.io with this report, your payout address and your NodeID
What is farming?
Farming is the term used to describe the process of renting out hard drive space to the Storj v2 network . This process should not be confused with traditional mining where revenue streams are relatively constant. This is not the case when renting out hard drive space. Users allocate a portion of their available hard drive space and specify a path on their drive to store the network data.
The available space is used to store encrypted shards coming from the network. This means that at no point does the farmer hold the entire customer’s file. Furthermore since the file and associated shards are encrypted, it is very unlikely that the farmer could read it anyway.
If someone attempts to access and alter the files that they are storing, the shard will fail the next challenge issued by the owner of the data. This will result in the malicious node being dropped, and the network will select another location to store the shard. And of course, the network doesn’t pay cheating nodes.
Storj Share, the program used to rent out drive space, will allow you to specify how much storage space you want to rent out to the network.
In the case customers upload files to Storj and your node is online and selected as a recipient, you will start getting file chunks hosted and be rewarded for them.
There are a number of variables that influence the number of shards you will receive on your allocated storage;
- Size of the shared storage.
- Upload and download bandwidth.
- Reliability (reputation) and availability (uptime) of your Storj Share node.
- Demand for storage
These variables are directly linked to the magnitude of your final reward.
How do I check the status of my payout?
For the v2 network
To view the status of the payout script please visit the Farmer Payout v2 Webapp tool.
You can also use the same link to look up your payout information.
For the v3 network
For the v3 there is no public site yet, the SNOboard on the development.
You can use the script to calculate your earnings from the article Calculate the current earnings for v3
How can an average person keep their storage space constantly online in order to maximize the service provided and the profit?
Ideally, this would require an upfront investment of a couple hundred dollars to purchase a dedicated network attached storage device such as the Synology DS213air or DS214se.
These can be plugged in and run 24/7 with up to 2x1TB - 6TB drives. Adding a small, inexpensive 400W+ Cyberpower or APC UPS Battery backup could also improve uptime during power outages.
This is a very simple and efficient setup for the average user, but please make sure to verify storagenode compatibility with any NAS you wish to purchase on the Storj Forum.
How much will I make renting out my drive space?
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It is important to understand that you are not necessarily paid for all the space you decide to rent. You are only paid for the space that is actually used. For example, if you rent 1TB of space but only 100GB is used, you will only be paid for the 100GB that was used.
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The same applies bandwidth wise, you are paid for downloads by customers (their data) and satellites (for audits and repairs). Uploads to your node are not paid.
Note: In order for more space to be used, you need to receive more pieces. How many pieces you receive depends on your reputation (associated with uptime, reliability, durability and more) and network activity.
You can use a Storage Node Payout Estimator to get an idea.
What is the status of the Storj V2 network?
There is no real point of being a farmer on the Storj V2 network at the moment. Testing of V2 is over and we’re currently waiting for the new V3 network to be rolled out into production for usage by the public. If you have data currently, you can continue to farm and get paid a minimal amount, but you shouldn’t expect much of any data to come in anymore on V2 as its already being deprecated and no more new renters are being accepted to upload files. If you have not done so already, please sign up for the V3 wait-list here, so you can get early to the new network.