ScPrime Community FAQ

To be a Storage Provider do I need to use a Xa-Miner or I can use my own hardware like a PC, NAS or a server?

You don’t have to buy a Xa-Miner to take part in the network. You can use your own hardware to setup a DIY Storage Provider. The guides do assume you have the experience, skillset and know how to navigate the OS you’ve chosen for your setup.

Xa-Miner is out of stock how to buy one?

Place your email on the waitlist, you’ll find this option on the shopping page of the specific version you would like to order. Your email address will be placed in queue and you’ll receive a pre-order email.

What’s the frequency of payouts?

The earnings of a Storage Provider can be divided in two parts. The first part is based on storage revenues. You’ll earn these at the end of a contract after your Storage Providers provided the required storage proof.

The second part is based on incentives. You’ll earn the amount of eligible incentives at the end of the month.

How long do I have to submit the required storage proof after a contract ends?

Your Storage Provider has 24 hours to submit the required storage proof.

How does the value of uS, mS and KS relate to SCP?

-H (Hasting, 10^-27 SCP, 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 SCP)

-pS (pico, 10^-12 SCP, 0.000 000 000 001 SCP)

-nS (nano, 10^-9 SCP, 0.000 000 001 SCP)

-uS (micro, 10^-6 SCP, 0.000 001 SCP)

-mS (milli, 10^-3 SCP, 0.001 SCP)

-SCP

-KS (kilo, 10^3 SCP, 1 000 SCP)

-MS (mega, 10^6 SCP, 1 000 000 SCP)

-GS (giga, 10^9 SCP, 1 000 000 000 SCP)

-TS (tera, 10^12 SCP, 1 000 000 000 000 SCP)

Do I earn the same having a XaMiner or my own hardware?

The Xa-Miner will on average earn a bit more than a typical open source storage provider. This is based on project metrics showing the units to outperform standard providers as a population. Good open source providers can expect to earn solid returns if they work at being durable, available and with plenty of capacity.

Do I need any SCP before I start being a Storage Provider?

Yes you need SCP before you start being a Storage Provider in order to be able to form contracts and as collateral to be able to receive data. See below.

What’s collateral and how much do I need?

The ScPrime network is smart contract based. Both the renter and storage provider have to lock-in SCP in order to be able to create a contracts. For Storage Providers this is called collateral and it’s essential for being able to store data. The collateral ensures availability of the customer data. It avoids that Storage Providers will suddenly disappear, not upholding their part of the contracts. The amount of collateral per TB is directly tied to the earning potential as it needs to be at least 1x of the Storage Price per TB.

As we are still in the early phase of the project, it’s not necessary to accumulate the entire amount of SCP needed for fully used storage capacity. For now it’s sufficient to acquire enough to be able to store 2-3TB of data.

See this document for more information.

Do we get collateral back once a contract ends?

Yes, once a contract ends successfully you’ll receive both your collateral back.

If a drive fails, do I lose all my collateral?

If you lose the drive which holds the metadata (consensus.db, wallet.db, contract.db, etc) you will basically lose your entire Storage Provider and thus all collateral locked in contracts.

If you lose a drive containing stored data, you’ll lose the amount of collateral related to this drive. In some setups this means you’ll lose all your collateral, but with multiple drives this will mean you’ll only lose a fraction of your collateral.

Do I need to backup my metadata?

You can restore a crashed Storage Provider by using a backed up metadata folder after reinstalling the software. This, however, is the responsibility of the Storage Provider. We have no official recommendations for doing this, it is simply your own decision. Some may find it useful backing up the metadata on a daily or weekly basis, others may not see any merit in doing this.

How do I update my Storage Provider (Linux, windows, Mac, docker, etc)?

Simply put. You need to stop the daemon first by typing in spc stop for the Windows,./spc stop for Linux and docker exec [container ID] spc stop for Docker and close down the software.

Either replace the spd & spc executables in your current folder with the new spd & spc executables. Or install the new software and delete the old software.

Open the software, launch spd, unlock your wallet and you’re all updated and set!

What is a static IP and why should i use one?

A static IP is a public IP address which doesn’t change. It isn’t mandatory but recommended as it won’t require you to constantly re-announce your Storage Provider with the changed IP.

Who should I tag for urgent support?

Nobody, just post your questions in the related support channels on the ScPrime Discord, and the team or community will support you the best they can.