Is Earning with STORJ Worth It? My 3-Month Test Results and Insights

Node Operators
1

I want to share the gross earnings after 3 months. First, the hardware:

• DELL rack server
• 256GB RAM
• 480GB SSD
• CPU: 2x24 cores
• NAS with 20TB, limited to 10TB for STORJ
• Internet connection: 1000/1000 Mbps, SLA 99.99%
• UTM pfsense
• Public IP address
• Location: Europe

I ran the project for 3 months.

• In the first month, I earned 11 STORJ.
• In the second month, 4 STORJ.
• In the third month, 19 STORJ.

Currently (December 5, 2024), my total earnings amount to approximately $24 based on the current STORJ to USD exchange rate.

The conclusions are quite clear:

  1. In Europe, there’s virtually no significant upload from the server.
  2. Downloading 10TB can take weeks. While the speed for the first 3TB was around 100 Mbps, the remaining 7TB dropped to just 2–4 Mbps.
  3. There are no consistent payouts for storage; actual payments can differ significantly from what is officially stated.

Summary for those looking to profit:

The server should ideally be located in the USA, or perhaps a fast VPN might suffice.

Let’s assume that 10TB storage earns an average of $6 per month. To earn $1000 today in Europe, you would need 1666TB, which translates to 83 drives of 20TB each.

• 83 drives x $450 per drive = $37,350.
• Drives generally last around 5 years, earning $12 per month per drive.
• $450 ÷ $12 = 37.5 months (approximately 3 years).

You would need good luck and an optimal environment to ensure a drive doesn’t fail within the first 3 years. :slight_smile:

Keep in mind that this is gross income—electricity costs for powering the systems are not included in this calculation.

If you still think you can launch such a project and turn a profit, feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to handle the administrative side of your systems.

Let me know if you need further refinements!

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2

You filled your 10TB drive in just 3 months? That’s pretty good. My oldest node (>1 year) in North America is ~9TB.

Exchange rate aside, how variable was your actual storage?

For data storage this is not true, you are paid $1.50/TBm, distributed via STORJ tokens. The amount of STORJ is calculated at the time of payout. You should sell your STORJ pretty much immediately once you get them.

By holding on to STORJ you are speculating on the price of the token. There’s many ways to avoid on-chain gas fees (i.e. set payout address to some onramp/CEX). There is also zkSync Era, albeit poor liquidity.

3

I launched the project with the assumption of earning $1.50 per 1TB. Unfortunately, it turned out that such payouts don’t exist, and everything goes directly to the wallet. The developers claim there are many other factors that aren’t fully transparent, such as node reputation and how long it has been active. Unfortunately, this can be used to obscure the truth for up to a year. :frowning:

IMHO, the routing is static, as evidenced by the fact that in Europe, downloading 10TB can’t be done in a few hours—it takes several weeks instead.

All payouts I reported were after filling 10TB, so I’m not counting the initial month when the data was being downloaded.

4

10TB in three months is huge. Besides, at only three months into the project, you’re still only being paid 25% of your earnings - the rest is held back.

It seems you’re not familiar with the held back system, which I’ve linked below and is running completely new hardware, which is against the spirit of StorJ

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5

…of used space per hour (like kWh), not allocated, so $1.5/TB*mo of used space + $2/TB for egress.
Also - the held amount depending on the age of the node, as stated above.

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6

So I was right about the lack of transparency in the rules. The same situation could happen after 12 months, and in the meantime, new regulations might come into play. The initial costs extend the investment return period by another year, meaning the profit will only come after 4 years, when after 5 years you’ll start replacing the drives. In reality, the investment pays off only in the fifth year of the project. Unfortunately, no one can predict how much the energy costs will be in a year, let alone in 4 years. :slight_smile:

7

To reach a reasonable age for 83 20TB drives, it would take several good years with a filling speed of 4Mbps in Europe.

8

No. StorJ is 100% profit, because it’s only supposed to be run on underutilized hardware that’s already running. If you’re buying new equipment to put to work for StorJ, you’re doing it wrong. Afterall, if it was profitable from day one on new hardware, StorJ would jut buy their own servers.

I think you’re coming to this with a mining-mentality, when the StorJ project is far from.

This is not Chia. You’re not printing virtual lottery tickets, in an neverending death spiral towards the buttom - you’re solving a real problem for real customers with real (albeit slowly growing) demands today. That security and future prospect comes at the cost of growth speed.

If I were you, I’d scale way down while you’re still growing and add drives as need be.

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9

There is no lack of transparency.
It seems to me like you didn’t properly research the project before embarking in it.

I’m sorry if I sound terse but I must admit your posts are irritating me because they’re filled with veiled accusations of fraudulent intent when it’s clear you don’t understand how the system works.

Yes, ingress is very slow. It has always been and it’s particularly bad right now. Three months is nothing in the life of a node.

Ideally you want to run nodes is hardware which is already online and has spare capacity. If all you get is 5 bucks, well that’s 5 bucks more than you would have had otherwise!
That’s the philosophy of the project.

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10

Thanks. I am feeling less alone now. :relieved:

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11

I have been operating nodes, and my longest-running node has been active for 13 months. Based on my experience, I run a hospital in South Korea with six branch locations. Each branch operates its own server to store X-ray data, and among our 10 backup hard drives for X-rays, one 16TB drive is dedicated to running Storj.

Storj does not conflict with other programs, and over the past 13 months, the hard drive (currently storing 6TB) has been earning approximately $6 per month. I look forward to seeing the rewards increase over time and anticipate that in two to three years, it could potentially cover the electricity and maintenance costs of running the server.

Every month, when I attend conferences, my colleagues and I not only discuss investment products like Bitcoin but also have in-depth conversations about how blockchain technology can coexist and advance alongside us as medical professionals. While I am just an ordinary user and not entirely sure how Storj will evolve in the future, I believe that what I am doing is part of its progress.

I hope the developers remain motivated and continue to move forward. I look forward to a bright future where we can all smile together. :heart_eyes:

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12

Dr Ko, I am extremely sceptical about the wisdom of you using production systems with patient confidential data to run a software that invites thousands of connections from all over the world with who knows what number of potential exploits.
I urge you to think twice about your strategy.
Apologies if I misunderstood your setup.

On a separate note, and bearing in mind your country’s recent events, I hope you and your loved ones are well. :slight_smile:

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13

83 drives x $450 per drive

Wait, that doesn’t make sense at all. You get paid for your share of data which is mostly a function of size of the network and user demand. There’s a slow-moving hard cap on what a location/server will receive. Adding more drives nets you exactly $0 revenue until your existing drives are filled.

Total storage capacity is irrelevant. The fill rate is out of your control. There’s no investment strategy.

Your ROI calculation is wrong. The correct formula is: as long as you have free space left on your node, each drive you buy moves your ROI closer to infinity.

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14

I think the OP is a troll, nobody can be that dense.

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15

Are you suggesting that the backup patient data and the spare hard drive used for Storj being physically separate still doesn’t ensure safety from hacking? I don’t think I had considered it from that perspective. My patient data is stored on a different hard drive and is encrypted, so I didn’t think there could be interference. However, that’s an interesting perspective, and I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you for your input.

(P.S. Thank you for your concern. However, locals here don’t seem to notice much risk and are living as usual. The only noticeable difference is a slight drop in stock prices, which I believe will recover soon enough.)

16

I am glad life is continuing as normal. :slight_smile:

Yes, even if data is on a separate hard drive, if its on the same system then there is the potential risk of data exfiltration through some sort of exploit into the storage node software (which has not been tested for use in confidential or safety-of-life systems).
Encryption is obviously a very good defence but not full-proof.

I would even go so far as to suggest that there is no real reason why your backups should be exposed to the Internet at all. Reducing your attack surface is always good practice.

I am by no means a cybersecurity expert but I am sure your Hospital’s CTO, Head of IT or equivalent would be able to advise.

In your position, though, I would very much err on the side of caution. An exfiltration of confidential data would not only cause potential reputational damage to you and your organisation but might land you in trouble with the law (it certainly could in the US and EU, I don’t know what Data Protection laws are like in South Korea).

I don’t wish to sound overly alarmist but I would hate to see a fellow healthcare professional get in trouble. :confused:

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17

and everything was thoroughly explained and supported by analyses

18

My favorite part is this:

Filling 10TB will take the average SNO around 2 years at the rates we’ve seen the last couple months. If it only took weeks few could afford to buy empty HDDs fast enough… :money_mouth_face:

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19

LMFAO
We have a job opening for the market rate of your technical skills and deep-dive analysis: 2 cents/hour non-negotiable.
LOLOLOLOLololollll.,…

20

This is a hobbyists view. If you have to pay someone to setup the stuff and keep it running the profit claim is questionable. BTW: I am still waiting for a select sno showing up in this forum… :wink: