Apr 5 2018

Announcements Skyminer Skywire

Skywire Testnet FAQ

Foreword to the first chapter of a new internet

Last Update: April 5, 2018

We know you all have been very eager to learn more about the next milestone of Skycoin, the Skywire testnet. We are proud to say the wait is now over! We have the answers for you below.

Please keep in mind that this will be an evolving FAQ and a living document as we progress through our testnet, so check back here often for updates.

1. What is the objective of the Skywire Public Testnet?

There are several goals we will accomplish with the Skywire Public Testnet. The testnet will be split into several phases.The version running today is the internal version of our testnet, aimed to validate its function and performance. The coming revision will publicize the network, as well as establish a fair economic model reward mechanism for running nodes. This will be based upon analysis of node utilization during testing. This testing will provide us valuable information to design a robust mathematical model for the mainnet so that all nodes on the mainnet will be automatically incentivized under a fair economic model.

2. What is the function of this version?

Once a user sets up an operational node, they will be able to search for other nodes and be connected to users around the world, breaking down borders and barriers to access global information.

Note that any computer can become a node on the network, however, only whitelisted Skyminers (all Official and selected DIY) will be participating in the economic model testing program, and eligible for rewards.

3. What kind of Skyminers will be whitelisted for the Testnet?

There are three main categories of Skyminers:

Official Skywire Miner
DIY Equivalent Skyminers
Other nodes and hardware

The initial whitelist will include the Official Skyminers that have shipped to users around the globe. These will become the baseline for early DIY Skyminers. Since we are entering into uncharted skies, we want to initially reduce any variables possible and test the network in a controlled manner.

As we iron out the initial turbulence and stabilize the network, we will scale out to include high quality DIY Skyminers with equivalent specifications, and eventually any Skyminer that reaches the minimum specifications required. Those minimum specifications will be determined during the testnet and released to the Skyfleet community as they become available so stay tuned.

4. What will be the whitelisting process be like?

First, the Skywire core team will collect the public keys for each node within each Official Skyminer. Since there are 8 nodes in a Skyminer, each will have 8 public keys. These Official Skyminers will be whitelisted once public keys are provided to the Skywire core team.

Stay tuned for public keys submission of the Official Skyminers.

DIY Skyminers will be reviewed manually and approved weekly (50 per week) following the completion of the whitelisting process for the Official Skyminers. The date for DIY Skyminer submissions will be released in the near future, so stay tuned.

5. How can DIY Skyminers join the whitelist?

While Official Skyminers will be on the whitelist by default (upon submission and receipt of their public keys), DIY Skyminers will be allowed to join the whitelist based on the benchmark set by the Official Skyminer’s hardware configuration. DIY Skyminers will be required to provide detailed specifications and photos, submitted to the corresponding team for review. Qualified DIY Skyminers will be added into the testnet whitelist.

The first generation Skyminer hardware configuration is as follows:

8 hardware nodes made up of 8 Orange Pi Prime PCB boards
8+1 100Mbps router (custom 16-port OpenWRT in production)
16GB RAM (8 x 2GB DDR3)
ARM Cortex-A53 CPU
Hexa-core Mali450 GPU
LAN Bandwidth: 8 x 1000Mbps
64-bit Linux (Alpine Linux)

The DIY Skyminer whitelisting application will be released at a later date, stay tuned.

6. What will be the reward mechanism for running nodes?

The reward ratio will be set carefully. We will first need a rigorous dataset as a point of reference and will be adjusting the rate continuously throughout the process as the economic model gets established.

It is important to note that Coin Hours and Skycoin rewards will not be released at this stage. Once the model is established, rewards will be released retroactively based on the recorded data.

Skyminer Preview

7. What kind of hardware will be able to participate in the Testnet?

Any computer can be added to the Skywire Public Testnet, set up as a node, and use the functions of Skywire. However, only a limited number of machines will be whitelisted (including Official Skyminers and some DIY Skyminers as noted above) and receive rewards during the testing stage.

Machines not on the whitelist will still be able to participate in the network and access the full service of the network, however they will not receive rewards.

8. Is there a limit of one whitelisted miner per person during testnet? For example, if someone builds two identical miners that both meet spec can they both be whitelisted? Or if someone purchased an official miner but also built one DIY that meets specification?

Once you provide all the information required and your miners are approved, we will likely allow each person with 1 to 2 miners in the whitelist.

9. Is a dedicated router part of the required spec? For example, if someone builds a miner that meets spec with 8 nodes and a switch, but just has it connected directly to their home/ISP Router will they be whitelisted?

They could be whitelisted. Official miner is just a benchmark and DIY Skyminer doesn’t require the exact same setup as the benchmark.

10. Is there any difference between Official Skyminers and DIY Skyminers?

The Skywire software application layer is the same for all Skyminers, whether Official or DIY. In terms of hardware, the minimum required specification for DIY Skyminers will be set according to the baseline established by the Official Skyminers.

11. How do I setup the software for my Official Skyminer?

Our Skyfleet community members have created an Orange Pi Skyminer software installation manual on Skywug.net, and many of our members have installed the software without issue.

We have simplified the process of setting up a Skyminer by creating a Skywire software package image for users to directly flash to their SD cards. The image contains all the standard functions that the nodes will need to get started with Skywire, such as the operating environment, static IP address, auto-start function, etc.

Stay tuned for Official Skywire Manager Installation/Operating Manuals.

12. How do we join the Testnet?

Those who have previously installed a version of Skywire can update directly in the software. (Note: if the update fails, please reinstall it by following the instructions on Github: https://github.com/skycoin/skywire)

13. What do we do after installation?

It is simple! All you have to do is keep the node online so that other Skywire nodes can connect to yours, as we perform network tests and do all the heavy lifting from our end. Grab a drink, sit back, relax and enjoy using the new internet :).

14. Where can we learn more about Skywire and join the discussions?

Chinese community:

Follow Skycoin China official Wechat Account - “SkycoinFans”, and join our Wechat discussion group
Join Skywire Chinese Telegram community: https://t.me/SkywireCN

Global community:

Join Skywire official Telegram community: https://t.me/skywire
Join Skywug forum: https://skywug.net/forum/Forum-Skywire