Selecting a mining pool
A mining pool essentially works as a coordinator for the pool members. The functions involve assigning work, looking for rewards through pooled efforts of available processing power, recording work performed by each pool member, and assigning reward shares to each pool member in proportion to the work performed after suitable verification.
The pool may also charge a fee from each member miner.
Work to each pool member can be assigned in two ways. The traditional method involves assigning members a work unit comprised of a particular range of nonce. This is a number that blockchain miners use to add to the block's hash to generate a hexadecimal number to compare to the network target. Once the pool member completes the work on the assigned range, they place a request for a new work unit to be assigned.
A second mining method allows pool members the liberty to pick and choose as much work as they like without any assignment coming from the pool. The methodology ensures that no two members take the same range, just like no two gold diggers should explore the same piece of land.