Hash Rate optimization and Load Balancing

MARAFW optimizes each individual chip by identifying the optimal voltage and frequency combination to enhance performance while maintaining efficiency. Unlike manual optimization methods, MARAFW's autotuning feature operates automatically, streamlining the process for users. Paired with automatic temperature control, miners can achieve optimal performance without manual adjustments.

Load balancing is another crucial aspect to consider. With MARAFW's optimization options, farm operators can easily adjust power consumption across their entire fleet. Notably, underclocking the entire fleet results in a lesser drop in hashrate compared to shutting down machines, making it a more efficient approach.

Hashrate optimization and load balancing are inseparable in terms of efficient management of a fleet of ASIC miners. This section describes how does it work together.

Operating Modes

MARAFW offers several operating modes for users:

Automatic Tuning- also known as over/underclocking, this mode allows operators to adjust miners based on their needs. There are three possibilities to achieve the set goal:

1. Power Target - controls the farm's load by limiting the maximum power draw of miners. The Automatic Tuning algorithm finds the optimal combination of frequency and voltage to enhance performance while staying within the set power limit.
   Note: The real power consumption can differ from the estimated value. Generally the hotter the chips run, the higher the power loss and the total power draw - this is the nature of every chip and is firmware independent. For precise power measurement, check out the section "Smart PDU integration" bellow.Note: Without smart PDU integration, this method has to rely on approximated power. It is recommended to use the "By Percent" method in that case.
2. Hashrate Target - sets a desired hashrate for machines, with the Automatic Tuning algorithm maintaining the set hashrate with minimal power consumption.
3. By Percent - this mode is similiar to the "Hashrate Target" where the algorithm finds the best setting combination to over/underclock the machine by set amount of percent. This is an alternative way to control the machines without limiting their power draw. This is the recommended method to use without a PDU integration.Examples:
   • Target: 0% - This setting will target stock hashrate, while improving the efficiency
   • Target: 10% - This setting will target a 10% higher hashrate than stock hash rate
   • Target: -10% - This setting will target a 10% lower hashrate than stock hash rate

Stock Hash rate - an alternative mode where the machines are running at stock hashrate but with improved efficiency. This is the easiest method to improve the power draw of the fleet while maintaining the hashrate produced.

Fixed Settings - allows users to set a fixed frequency and voltage for testing and troubleshooting purposes. This mode does not perform optimization and may result in lower performance and higher power draw compared to Automatic Tuning.

Sleep mode - minimizes power usage during planned downtimes, keeping miners accessible for quick ramp-up when mining resumes.

Temperature control

Proper temperature control is a key factor in keeping the fleet in good health, as excessive heat can easily degrade as the performance but more importantly the health span of the machines. MARAFW offers multiple methods to control miner temperature, including cooling modes and Intelligent Thermal Protection (ITP).

Cooling modes

MARAFW offers versatile cooling options to accommodate various environmental conditions.

• Air Cooling - select this option in case the miners are cooled using the pre-installed fans.
• Hydro Cooling - select this option in case the MARAFW is running on the Hydro series.
• Single-Phase Immersion Cooling - select this option in case the miners are cooled using typical immersion cooling method.
• Two-Phase Immersion Cooling - select this option in case the miners are cooled by the Marathon's Two-Phase Immersion Cooling system.

Intelligent Thermal Protection

MARAFW's Intelligent Thermal Protection ensures continuous operation of devices, even during drastic temperature changes. This feature is is fully automatic and will be triggered based on the device temperature to ensure the highest uptime possible even during massive temperature swings.

This is how it works:

• The device temperature is normally kept at pre-defined ideal temperature by adjusting the fan speed (model dependent).
• In case the fans are fully maximized and yet the device temperature is still climbing above a certain safe limit (for example during the day), the Intelligent Thermal Protection will interfere and automatically underclocks the device to prevent overheating. This action can be also observed on the Dashboard (Status - "Degraded") and in the Log ("[Watchdog] Temp 81 over than 80 , underclocking...").
• Once the device temperature is at safe level (for example during night), the ITP automatically overclocks the device to recover the performance. This action can be observed in the Dashboard (Status - "Fully Functional") and in the Log ("[Watchdog] Temp 69 lower than 70, recovery...").
• In extreme cases when the ambient temperature is so high, that further underclocking is no longer possible, the ITP will put the device into sleep mode, once the "Protection Temperature" limit is reached. This can be observed in the Dashboard (Status-  "Sleep mode") and in the Log ("[Watchdog] Temperature is too high, shutdown miner.")
  • Note: As such high temperatures are dangerous to the integrity of the machine, miners put into Sleep mode have to be manually restarted once the farm operation team deems the danger being over.
• Current temperature limits are model dependent.

This feature ensures higher uptime and performance while safeguarding hardware. ITP is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.

MARAFW Auto-Sleep Behavior

By default, when the connection to the pool is lost or invalid pool settings are used, miner will continue hashing against blank jobs and generating nonces to maintain hashrate and maintain power draw. This behavior enables users with power draw requirement to keep up the power draw even in a case of pool connection loss.

In order to stop mining and go to sleep mode after a loss of all pool connections, enable the option "Shutdown Miner if Pool is Disconnected" in the Configuration section.

Smart PDU integration

MARAFW comes with a feature that allows the users to link their smart PDUs with a miner to get precise power consumption readings. This feature is in testing phase and will be released shortly.

Support

To experience the firmware that sets Marathon apart, schedule a consultation or live demonstration by contacting firmware@mara.com.

If you encounter compatibility issues, please contact our support team.