Clear DefinitionsHash Rate
1 min read
Pronunciation
[hash rāt]
Analogy
Hash rate is like a car’s horsepower: more horsepower (higher hash rate) lets you cover ground (test hashes) more quickly.
Definition
The speed at which a miner or network can compute cryptographic hash functions, typically measured in hashes per second (H/s).
Key Points Intro
Hash rate influences mining through:
Key Points
Throughput metric: Number of hash attempts per second.
Network security: Higher aggregate hash rate increases attack cost.
Individual share: Determines probability of finding blocks.
Units: Ranges from KH/s to EH/s (kilo to exa hashes/sec).
Example
A modern ASIC miner may operate at 100 TH/s, meaning it computes 100 trillion SHA‑256 hashes each second.
Technical Deep Dive
Hash rate = clock_speed × hashes_per_cycle × number_of_cores. ASICs optimize the SHA‑256 compression function in hardware, achieving terahash performance. Mining software reports share submissions to pools to estimate effective hash rate.
Security Warning
Hash rate concentration in few pools or regions can centralize mining power; monitor distribution metrics.
Caveat
Reported hash rate may differ from realized effective rate due to stale shares, hardware faults, or network latency.
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