Setting Up a Mining Rig: Power, Cooling, and Networking
Plan power before you unbox
ASICs draw continuous load. Checklist:
- Confirm circuit capacity with headroom
- Use proper PDUs and cable gauges
- Avoid daisy-chaining consumer power strips
- Label breakers for each shelf or row
Undersized electrical is the fastest way to trip, throttle, or worse.
Cooling options (overview)
- Air cooling — fans + exhaust; simplest; noisy; climate-sensitive
- Immersion — dielectric fluid; higher density; more specialized ops
- Hydro / rear-door — facility-scale approaches
Match cooling to density, ambient temperature, and maintenance skill.
Networking essentials
- Stable ethernet to each worker (or approved USB/ethernet adapters)
- Separate management VLAN if you can
- Monitoring that alerts on offline workers
- Time sync and firmware update discipline
First-power sequence
- Inspect for shipping damage
- Mount with airflow clearance
- Connect network, then power
- Confirm pool stratum and worker name
- Watch temps and hashboard status for the first hours
Noise, neighbors, and legality
Home garages surprise people with noise and heat. Farms need permits, zoning awareness, and sometimes sound mitigation. Check local rules before scaling.
Takeaway
A great ASIC in a bad environment becomes scrap heat. Power + cooling + monitoring are the real setup.