What if I need to reboot my computer? Does that dump all the data on my drive, and I start acquiring data all over again?
It would be nice if I could reboot once in a while without messing up my rank.
That’s not a reboot, you’re asking about a reformat.
Reboot is simply a restart of the computer, having it turned off and on again.
See. Reboot
Now if you reformat your computer and lose all of the data you’re storing for the network, I would imagine you would have to make a copy of all that data and reload it after the reformat, otherwise you will harm your rank because you just nuked a small part of the network.
I imagine the developers will have a function for backing up the chunks you’re storing and then reload them into the network as quickly as possible.
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Thanks! I meant restart.
If you just restart (the same as a reboot) then you should be fine as all that data is still on disk. You might be slightly penalized but to be honest, it takes a computer 2 minutes to restart so I can’t imagine it hurting your rank.
Remember that most farmers will have to restart their machines at some point.
I wouldn’t see it as an issue with just a couple of minutes of downtime.
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My main concern is that when I turn the computer off, the files from my drive get copied elsewhere on the safe network. When my computer is turned back on, there is no longer a need for the data on my drive…there are already 4 copies.
That is a very good question. I have been wondering that myself.
When 1 of the 4 vaults goes offline, the data is copied to a new vault. And when the old vault comes back online with data previously planted, we have a de-duplication event. This only happens after 10 minutes, called the “back off period.” I’m not 100% sure this is the way it works, so don’t quote me on this. It’s just my best guess understanding.
Vault 1-4 has the 4 copies
Vault 1 = 100Gb
Vault 2 = 100Gb
Vault 3 = 100Gb
Vault 4 = 100Gb
Vault 1 = 100Gb
Vault 2 = 0Gb (Goes offline for more than 10 minutes)
Vault 3 = 100Gb
Vault 4 = 100Gb
Vault 5 = 100Gb (Data recopied to this vault)
Vault 1 = 100Gb
Vault 2 = 100Gb (Comes back online)
Vault 3 = 100Gb
Vault 4 = 100Gb
Vault 5 = 100Gb
This triggers a de-duplication event which the Network will “remove” data from a vault.
I am guessing the vault with the lowest rank will have its data removed. The reasoning is because low ranks tend to go offline more frequently, and thus temporary data should be stored with them. So if we apply the ranks in this example. Then the following should happen.
Vault 1 = 100Gb = Rank 3
Vault 2 = 100Gb = Rank 2
Vault 3 = 100Gb = Rank 2
Vault 4 = 100Gb = Rank 1 (Candidate for De-Duplication)
Vault 5 = 100Gb = Rank 1 (Candidate for De-Duplication)
Now the Network has to determine between Vault #4 and #5 to remove their data. If the Network is also measuring their online time, then it can make that decision. If Vault#5 has been online longer than Vault#4, then Vault#4’s data will be removed.
If a Vaults data is removed via de-duplication, it can be filled up with new data, so the loss should not be too detrimental to the farmer. The important thing is to try and stay online consistently, and for as long as possible. The 10min back off period should give you enough to time to restart your computer before the data is copied to another vault.
If anyone thinks this is the wrong explanation, please feel free to add, adjust, or correct me.
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Didn’t know about the “back off period”. That is plenty of time 
This makes me wonder about what counts as a vault.
Suppose I earn #3 ranking with a very small vault I’ve been providing for over a year and I chose to expand my vault size. Will that still count as a part of the same vault with the same ranking?
If so, now my #3 ranked vault is actually partially empty and ready for more content to be copied to it.
Now lets say my vault described is actually vault 5 in your scenario above. My seniority as a #3 would potentially bump Vault 2 when it comes back online even though it is held that piece of data far earlier.
Anyways, it’s such a specific example, and it sounds like you aren’t entirely sure that your description is correct… but I couldn’t help but wonder…
Yes. Expanding the storage capacity should not change its ranking instantaneously. More likely, when more data is added, the rank will upgrade accordingly… overtime. There are other variables to measure like, bandwith and online time.
Even if that were true, the candidate for de-duplication would be vault #4 because it’s the lowest rank at the time.
Another situation, if all 5 vaults were the same, (rank 1). Then it would be determined by online time. In that case, vault #2, that came back online would have its data removed.
The ultimate answers to our questions depend on what rules determine the vault ranking. Those rules have not been published yet. If they have, we would all like to see it. Testnet3 would give us a better idea on how the vaults behave. Right now, I can only speculate based on what I’ve read from the forums and dev list.
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I see. Thank you for the helpful reply!!