What it is?

Storj is a decentralized network of cloud storage. The goal is to decentralize cloud storage, increase low cost cloud storage accesibillity. This is done by letting people make Storj Nodes on this network using their own unused hard drives. In large scale there are also commercial versions of Storj that aims for datacenters or other providers that have certifications.

Right now we don’t have any certifications, therefore will focus on growing our node. We have a truenas installation running all the time, so the plan is to add there few disks to get it started to grow in storage size.

How to install?

Storj Docs Truenas Docs

Both Truenas and Storj documentations offer clean and simple instructions on how to make a node and become a Storj Node Operator.

Requirements

In simple terms all I needed was:

• a crypto wallet

• few TBs of disk space

• uptime

• internet connection with forwarded ports

Crypto Wallet

Preferably anyone doing transactions with crypto should have a real hardware crypto wallet. Just before investing into this disk space farming I will wait until it actually makes some earnings, so I decided to make a software wallet at the moment. MetaMask seems to be good enough choice.

The creation was pretty neat, install of browser extension, fill in the form and obtain the password. Once in, all I need is the wallet id, which is required in the installation of the container.

Storage

Next thing I did was, to create a new zfs pool specifically for the Storj. It consists of 3 one TB spare drives. Most simple pool, no raid just a dataset.

Router Config

Storj communicates with it’s network satellites, which tells each node where are specific bits and pieces of data. Overwatches the uptime of nodes and makes audits. This communication requires direct domain-port traffic. To make this happen both TCP and UDP port 28967 has to be forwarded to the machine.

Auth Token

This is probably the simplest thing to do. Go on the the Storj docs, enter email address and obtain the token just generated. Keep it to put into the installation as a secret.

Storj Node Auth Token

Installation

In truenas ecosystem using the truenas catalog is kinda simple to start the node. Find the Storj template fill in just obtained token and the wallet address. Not to skip the domain address has to be set. For me it’s my public static ip. If you don’t have a static one, opt to using a DDNS (dynamic domain name) with the updater running locally.

Storj keeps generated identities for each node. This has to be kept safe. It stores all cryptographic data to communicate with Storj satellites securely, generated by the init container.
In my config I actually use 3 zfs pools, one on which is the actual container installed, second that has zraid 1 set on which I have put the identity files. And the third is the Storj pool with 3TB to spare.

Dashboard

Dashboard consists of:

• bandwidth stats

• disk storage stats

• node stats

• audit, uptime control

• payouts

When and How will I earn from it?

There is no outcome of this at the moment, I need to get the node vetted. Well it means to get verified in terms of 99.7 % uptime over few weeks. After that satellites will start sending me data. Once the storage reaches anything about a terrabyte, I will get to see how is it doing. Just at that point, I could expect any reward. The plan is to grow the node into tens of terrabyte storage to utilize JBOD bays and unused drives.

Is it worth it?

Well whether it is or not, only time will tell.

But, if you host your own NAS server, consider using some space this way either to cover a backup of your own or earn money to cover the cost of running the actual NAS server. The sooner you plant the seed the sooner you can expect the yield.