Pickaxe 101: Your Essential Miner Metrics Agent

What is Pickaxe?
Pickaxe is a powerful, open-source miner metrics agent designed to deliver real-time data from mining rigs to a dashboard in Foreman. Its primary function is to facilitate the seamless flow of information by querying miners and executing commands as needed.

Why Pickaxe Matters?

Foreman depends on Pickaxe for the collection and delivery of vital data, making it an indispensable component of the entire Foreman platform. Ensuring the ongoing functionality of Pickaxe is crucial for optimizing your mining setup.                                

Stateless Server

Pickaxe operates as a stateless server, a crucial architectural feature that sets it apart from traditional systems. Unlike conventional servers that store persistent data locally, Pickaxe follows a unique approach by eschewing the practice of data retention. Instead, it relies on real-time communication with mining rigs and the Foreman web server.

This stateless server architecture offers several distinct advantages:

• Real-time Data: Pickaxe's stateless nature ensures that the data it provides is always up-to-date. This means that miners, managers, and operators can access real-time information about their mining operations, making informed decisions quickly and efficiently.
• Reduced Data Loss Risk: By not storing data locally, Pickaxe significantly reduces the risk of data loss in case of system failures. Traditional servers that rely on local data storage are susceptible to data corruption or loss during crashes. In contrast, Pickaxe maintains a continuous flow of data, mitigating such risks and ensuring the integrity of your critical mining data. 
• Scalability: The stateless server architecture facilitates scalability, allowing for easy expansion and adaptation to growing mining operations. It can accommodate an increasing number of mining rigs without the need for significant architectural changes, ensuring your mining setup can evolve with your needs.
• Resource Efficiency: Stateless servers are more resource-efficient because they do not carry the overhead of maintaining local data storage. This efficiency translates to better performance, lower resource consumption, and cost savings.
• Streamlined Maintenance: Stateless servers simplify maintenance tasks. With reduced data storage and less need for extensive backups, the focus shifts to ensuring seamless communication and reliability, resulting in more straightforward and cost-effective system upkeep.                      

This innovative approach to server architecture reflects our commitment to providing you with the most robust and efficient tools for successful mining operations.   

Ensuring Pickaxe's Longevity

To ensure the sustained performance of your Pickaxe installation, it's imperative to adopt a proactive approach to maintenance. Here are a couple of key steps you should take:

• Keep Pickaxe Up to Date: Regularly update Pickaxe to the latest version. New releases often come with performance improvements, bug fixes, and additional features that can enhance your mining operation. Check out this article if you want to automatically keep Pickaxe up to date -
• Hardware Maintenance Routine: Establish a structured hardware maintenance routine. This ensures that the machine running Pickaxe remains in optimal condition. Periodic checks and maintenance will prevent downtime and maintain peak efficiency.

Installation Requirements

The following are the recommended minimum hardware requirements for installing Pickaxe on a computer:

• Processor: An Intel i5 or equivalent AMD processor is the baseline requirement. For improved performance, consider processors with more cores and hyper-threading capabilities. A 8-core CPU with hyper-threading (8 cores/16 threads) is ideal for most setups.
• Operating System: Pickaxe is compatible with both Windows and Linux operating systems.

Scaling for Larger Deployments

It's important to scale your hardware to match the size of your mining operation. As the number of miners under your management increases, consider the following:

• Processor Speed: For larger deployments, you'll want to invest in processors with higher clock speeds to handle the increased load efficiently.
• Core Count and Threads: As the miner count rises, it's advisable to increase the number of CPU cores and threads. More threads allow Pickaxe to handle multiple mining rigs simultaneously, resulting in smoother operation.
• Enterprise-Grade Hardware: If you're managing over 10,000 miners, it's a good practice to transition to an enterprise-grade server. These robust systems are designed to handle the demands of extensive mining operations effectively

Preconfigured Pickaxe  

Foreman offers additional options to customers who prefer a more plug and play/streamlined approach to setting up their operations. Please reach out to us contact@obm.mn if you would like to learn more about a custom solution. 

Troubleshooting

Please check out this article if you are troubleshooting any potential issues when running a scan with Pickaxe.