SSDs Are Getting Expensive!

The video explains why SSDs and hard drives are becoming more expensive, pointing out that the root cause goes beyond the global chip shortage. The host introduces chia, a cryptocurrency based on proof of space rather than traditional proof of work, which requires allocating large amounts of storage space on consumer devices. The process, called plotting, creates large groups of cryptographic hashes on drives and benefits from fast storage like NVMe SSDs for speed, allowing a single 100 GB plot to be produced in hours rather than days. After plots are created, they are stored on drives and checked by the network for a match to earn chia rewards, with pools potentially increasing earnings as the network scales. The discussion covers practical aspects of chia farming, including typical hardware needs such as RAM and CPU per plot, and notes that high-end, high-endurance or enterprise SSDs are recommended to mitigate wear on consumer drives. It ends by contrasting plotting costs and energy use with traditional mining, suggesting that even with greener intentions, chia still drives demand for storage and can impact prices, while also highlighting alternatives like cloud storage and the educational content from Brilliant.org embedded in the video.

Topics · technology · cryptocurrency · hardware · storage · energy · economy