Storj Review – Is HDD Altcoin Mining the New Black?

You are probably familiar with GPU and CPU mining. There are also ASICS that are specialized in one single algorithm. The cryptocurrency world requires a lot of hash power to be up and running, and the system rewards those users who rent their hardware to support it.

However, not long time ago, a new cryptocurrency emerged that allowed common people like you and me to rent HDD space, rather than CPU/GPU power.

Meet Storj – a decentralized cloud storage system that allows users to store their personal encrypted data anonymously and safe on other’s computers and have real time access to it from anywhere, anytime.

Storj vs. Minebox

In one of my previous articles I already reviewed a similar alternative called Minebox. Minebox is a decentralized cloud storage network that is kept in Mineboxes – pieces of hardware that contain hard drives and a controller to run them autonomously.

Storj is different since it does not require you to purchase any additional pieces of hardware. All you have to do is to assign part of your already existing and functioning PC HDDs to be part of Storj network.

Decentralized Storage as the Safest Alternative to Centralized Cloud Storage

You probably agree that modern centralized cloud storage systems are not secure. There are two main reasons why companies like Dropbox and OneDrive cannot be considered 100% safe bets.

Why Is Storj so Interesting?

Storj uses blockchain to keep your data safe, encrypted and decentralized. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies proved to be 100% safe and anonymous, which gives me reasons to trust Storj too.

This also means that the owners of the company do not have access to your data whatsoever. I will review how to create a Storj account in a minute and you will notice that the password (or better said, the decryption key) you create is only visible to you. If you lose it, nobody will be able to restore it for you, because you are the only one who has access to it. So make sure you write it down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere safe.

Storj supports mobile devices as well as PC. This means that you will have instant access to your data from any point of the world.

Zero setup fees and no minimum space usage are yet another thing that makes Storj an interesting alternative. You can enjoy the service no matter how much data you want to store.

Storj also provides their own tokens (Storjcoin X), which allow more transparency and stability to the system, as well as enabling a feedback loop. Storj services can be purchased with ETH/BTC and credit card payments.

Now, about monetization of your HDD space, Storj allows you profit from your free HDD space and Internet traffic. You get paid both for renting someone your free space and for every Gb of information that is being downloaded from your HDD(s).

Pricing

Storj features accessible prices, which is great news for those who want to upload data and might be a little disappointing for those who want to profit from the rent. Or is that so?

Storage:

$0.015 per GB per month
This is the passive component of the price. Good news is – you don’t have to pay for the storage space in advance. You only pay for the space you actually use.

Bandwidth:

$0.05 per GB downloaded
This is the active component of the price and it depends on how often and how much you access your own data.

$10 credit, valid for the next three months!
Plus, one year of free service — up to 25GB of storage and bandwidth every month

Profit – Storj Share

From what we see in the pricing description, we can conclude that you probably won’t earn a lot from renting 100 GB of HDD space. However, you will be able to rent 100GB and use the tokens you earn to purchase storage space from others. This way you can enjoy decentralized cloud storage for free.

However, if you want to go serious and rent way more space, you can always assemble your own HDD rig with 4-8 or even 20 terabytes of space. As with most other cryptocurrencies, Storj requires you to have a solid rig in order to see real profit.

Good news is – Hard Drives have usually way more lifespan than GPU’s. Plus, unlikely other cryptocurrencies, your income does not depend on the mining difficulties of Storj tokens. Gigabytes are gigabytes and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon 🙂

Setup for Mining

If you think Storj is worth a try, then here’s how to set it up:

Seagate BarraCuda 3TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 5400 RPM 256MB Cache for Computer Desktop PC – Frustration Free Packaging (ST3000DM007)

Price: $125.88

Price Disclaimer

It will take some time for Storj to assign contracts to you. The contract meter will fill up over time, as well as the amount of storage space you rent. Mining Storjcoin X requires a little bit of luck and time, just as mining any other crypto coin. However, the more you mine, the more contracts you will eventually get, so give it some time.

In Conclusion

Storj is a new project, so don’t expect it to be perfectly tested and balanced. However, the idea is quite interesting – the team did a great job putting all of this together and the Storj community is growing by the day. If you have some spare HDD space you’d like to monetize, then Storj is definitely worth a try.

Thank you for reading. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome. Subscribe and stay tuned for further updates!