Hydro miner hosting: what a hydro-cooled machine needs from a host

Four things, and each one is a specification a host should put in writing rather than an adjective in a brochure.

• Three-phase power. Bitmain rates the 395T version of the Antminer S21+ Hyd. at 395 TH/s and 15 J/TH, which works out to 5,925 W for one machine. The Proton catalogue notes that external cooling and three-phase power are separate requirements, so the site needs a three-phase supply sized for the whole fleet, not a spare outlet.
• A closed coolant loop. Supply and return manifolds carry coolant to each machine's OD10 ports and back. Pumps and a plate exchanger sit between the loop that touches the machines and the loop that meets the outside air, so the two never mix.
• Somewhere for the heat to go. Every watt the machine draws leaves as heat in the coolant. In Proton's planned container it leaves through a dry cooler on the roof, where the loop meets the air.
• A network path and a meter. Each machine needs a route to your pool, and each circuit needs a meter, because power is billed on metered draw.

Monitoring sits on top of all four. On a hydro machine that means coolant inlet and outlet temperature as well as hashrate, board temperature and power draw, so a cooling fault shows up as a temperature change and not only as lost hashrate. Proton's hosting page lists exactly those four readings, sampled continuously, with automated alerts.

An air-cooled hall is built around airflow: cool air in on one side, hot air out the other, and fans on every machine doing the work. A fanless hydro machine takes no part in that airflow. Its heat is in the coolant, and a hall with no loop has nothing to receive it.

Some halls add coolant distribution and plumbing for a few hydro racks. If a host offers that, ask whether the loop is installed at the specific site your machines would go to, what it is rated for, and who maintains it. A loop that is planned and a loop that is installed are different answers. Either can be fine, as long as the agreement says which one you are signing for.

Immersion is a third approach, where whole machines sit in tanks of dielectric fluid. It needs its own tanks and fluid handling, and it is not the same thing as hydro. At Proton, hosting is for hydro-capable models only, and Proton confirms your model before anything ships.

These are the questions that turn a hosting conversation into a specification. Each answer belongs in the quote or the agreement.

1. What coolant goes into the loop, and what temperature range is it held to at this site?
2. Which fittings does the loop use, and do they match your machine? The S21+ Hyd. has two OD10 ports, inlet and return on one sealed plate.
3. Is the supply three-phase, at what voltage, and is it metered per circuit?
4. How is heat rejected: a dry cooler, a tower or something else? What happens to the coolant temperature on the hottest days of the year?
5. What is monitored, how often, and what triggers an alert? Coolant temperatures belong on that list.
6. Who replaces a hashboard, a PSU or a coupling, from which spares, and how are labour and parts charged?
7. Where does the hashrate point, and who holds the pool credentials and the payout address?
8. What are the minimum, the term, the deposit and the exit process, and are they all in the agreement?

A host that answers each of these in writing, per site, is telling you how the site is specified. A host that answers with adjectives is not.

At Proton, hosting is quoted per kWh, per site, in writing. Power is metered at the PDU and billed on actual draw, not nameplate. What the rate covers, and any fee billed separately, is set out in your quote. The rest of the commercial terms follow the same pattern:

• Setup: per machine, one time, quoted in writing. It covers receiving, inspection, asset tagging, racking, and commissioning to first accepted share.
• Minimum: set per site, in machines or kW of connected load, and stated in your quote.
• Deposit and term: the deposit amount is stated in your quote. The initial term, renewal and exit notice are set out in your hosting agreement.
• Curtailment: expected hours per year depend on the site and are stated in your quote. You are not billed for power you do not draw, and curtailment events are logged and shown on your statement.
• Prepaid discounts: indicative figures of 4% off for 12 months prepaid, 8% off for 24 months and 12% off for 36 months. The rate they apply to, whether and how that rate changes over the term, and what a prepayment covers are set out in your hosting agreement.

None of this tells you what a machine will earn. Mining income moves with the bitcoin price, network difficulty and your cost of power, and Proton does not promise returns. The mining calculator shows every input, so you can put your own assumptions in and see what changes.

Alberta, 160 kW: acquisition in progress. Join the waitlist.

Every other location is proposed and marked Coming soon on the hosting page: the Permian Basin in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota, both flared associated gas; two proposed sites in Alberta; and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Proposed locations have no confirmed hosting start date, and an enquiry about one does not reserve a slot or establish a start date.

Each region on the hosting page shows a planned capacity and an estimated hosting rate. Capacity, hosting rates and availability are indicative estimates and are confirmed on your hosting agreement. A proposed rate is not an offer of operating capacity.

You do. Your hashrate points at your own pool, under worker names you choose, paying out to an address you control. Payouts go straight from your pool account to your wallet. You hold the keys and the pool credentials, and Proton never takes custody of mined bitcoin at any point.

Proton asks only for a read-only pool API key, for reporting. Your statement includes per-machine kWh, uptime and hashrate for the period, so the power bill and the hashrate can be checked against each other.

A hosted hydro machine at Proton goes through five steps. Timing depends on a confirmed opening, site readiness and freight. Proposed locations have no confirmed hosting start date.

1. Scope and quote. You choose machines from the hardware catalogue and a preferred start date. Proton reviews future availability and site readiness, then confirms whether it can offer capacity and terms. An enquiry about a proposed location does not reserve a slot or establish a start date.
2. Agreement and deposit. The agreement is signed, the deposit received, capacity reserved in your name and an account contact assigned.
3. Freight and receiving. Machines ship from the supplier to the site on the agreement. Every pallet is opened, counted, serial-scanned and photographed, and discrepancies are reported before anything is racked.
4. Rack and commission. Each machine is installed, mapped to your account, pointed at your pool and burned in. A machine is not called live until it holds rated hashrate at rated power.
5. Live and reporting. Dashboard access and alerts start once your machines are live, and the first statement comes at the end of the billing period.

If a unit drops below its expected hashrate or overheats, an alert fires and the on-site path is the standard one: reboot, reseat, swap the PSU, then swap the hashboard from on-site spares. A unit that needs a manufacturer RMA is pulled, documented, and returned in coordination with you.

Hosting at Proton is for hydro-capable machines bought through Proton. Capacity, timing, rate and terms are confirmed per site and set out in writing before anything ships.

A good fit if

• You are buying hydro machines such as the S21+ Hyd. from the Proton catalogue and want them hosted.
• You want power metered at the PDU and billed on actual draw, with a per-machine statement.
• You want your hashrate on your own pool and your payouts in your own wallet.

Not a fit if

• Your machines were bought elsewhere: hosting is only for machines bought through Proton.
• Your machines are air-cooled: hosting is for hydro-capable models only.
• You want cloud mining, a hashrate plan or promised returns: none of these is offered.
• You need a start date now at a proposed location: proposed locations have no confirmed hosting start date.