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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Technical Support => Topic started by: stevieBF on May 23, 2019, 09:18:04 AM



Title: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: stevieBF on May 23, 2019, 09:18:04 AM
Hi All,
Probably a simple question. I have been running Armory and BitcoinQT on a laptop for a few years and as expected run out of disk space for the database. Can you run the database on a USB attached HDD and change the Armory settings to point to that drive?
Thanks
Steve


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: LoyceV on May 23, 2019, 09:23:54 AM
Although it should work, it's not recommended because of the high chance of disconnecting the drive while using it.

As an alternative, replacing your laptop disk with a bigger disk drive (hdd or even ssd) might be a relatively cheap solution for the coming years.


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: stevieBF on May 23, 2019, 09:49:53 AM
Thanks for the quick reply, bigger SSD is best option however a bit of work involved.
Thanks


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: ABCbits on May 23, 2019, 05:03:33 PM
As an alternative, replacing your laptop disk with a bigger disk drive (hdd or even ssd) might be a relatively cheap solution for the coming years.

Replacing your DVD/optical-disc drive with bigger storage drive (with HDD caddy) also works. DVD/optical-disc drive barely used these days and you don't need to throw your older laptop storage drive.


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: LoyceV on May 23, 2019, 05:14:02 PM
Replacing your DVD/optical-disc drive with bigger storage drive (with HDD caddy) also works. DVD/optical-disc drive barely used these days and you don't need to throw your older laptop storage drive.
I did that already indeed :)


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: khaled0111 on May 23, 2019, 09:40:01 PM
Why don't you run a pruned node, it will save you a lot of disk space. <= not possible with Armory (thank you LoyceV for the info)

Thanks for the quick reply, bigger SSD is best option however a bit of work involved.
Thanks
Not really  :)
 - connect your new hard drive.
 - shut down bitcoin core.
 - locate the data directory and move it to the new HD.
 - start bitcoin core, select "use a custom data directory" and enter the new path.
Make sure to make a backup of your wallet.dat file

But as you are using Armory and in case you have a Mac, the above will not work.
After moving the data directory, you have to create a symlink pointing to the new path.

You will find more here (https://bitzuma.com/posts/moving-the-bitcoin-core-data-directory/).


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: stevieBF on May 23, 2019, 11:52:13 PM
Thanks khaled0111
Good information in the article. Running Windows so should be OK.
Thanks


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: DaveF on May 24, 2019, 12:38:24 AM
Make sure to make a backup of your wallet.dat file

I know I have said this before in other posts, but when doing work on the computer DON'T MAKE THE BACKUP ON THAT PC. PUT IT ON A REMOVABLE STORAGE DEVICE.
USB stick / SD card / whatever. Once you are done and you are sure the funds are safe, you can wipe the removable storage.

-Dave


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: LoyceV on May 24, 2019, 06:59:04 AM
Why don't you run a pruned node, it will save you a lot of disk space.
I haven't tested it, but unless something changed, this isn't possible with Armory:
it's possible to prune the new blockchain in core 0.12 to work with armory?
No. Armory reads the block files in order to work and if you prune, then the block files are removed.


Title: Re: Running BitcoinQB Database remotely
Post by: HCP on May 24, 2019, 09:39:09 AM
Nope, that's still true. If you have a pruned node, Armory will be unable to find any transactions in blocks that have been "pruned".

You need a full node that has the full blockchain for Armory to run correctly.