Bitcoin.conf and best configuration params for fast sync

[unsoindovo]

Hi all!

Im using bitcoin core Qt 0.18.0 on windows 10 i7 16GB server.

below, my bitcoin.conf:
blocksonly=1
par=-1
dbcache=16000
peertimeout=10
plus a list of addnodes...

despite everything, sync is very slow. To synchronize the last 20/30 hours, I spend a lot of time.
How can I lower the synchronization time?
any advice is welcome!

[1715337379]

1715337379

[1715337379]

1715337379

[1715337379]

1715337379

[DaveF]

You should proabably move this to
Bitcoin Forum > Bitcoin > Bitcoin Technical Support    here -> https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=4.0
With that being said.

SSD or spinning drive? Old slow drives will drive up initial sync time. Crappy RAID setup will make it worse too. [been there...done that]

What gen i7 the original ones are over 10 years old. IT's n

Internet connection speed? You are going to have to download over 250 GB of data.

-Dave

[unsoindovo]

You should proabably move this to
Bitcoin Forum > Bitcoin > Bitcoin Technical Support    here -> https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=4.0
With that being said.

SSD or spinning drive? Old slow drives will drive up initial sync time. Crappy RAID setup will make it worse too. [been there...done that]

What gen i7 the original ones are over 10 years old. IT's n

Internet connection speed? You are going to have to download over 250 GB of data.

-Dave

@ moderator.
If this thread is in wrong child board, feel free to move it.

@ dave
I7 it's a generation 7. 4 cores, 8 threads,
The HD it's an 8tb spinning drive.
Internet connection is a standard 20mb.

Seems my config is not scaling the pc capacity.
Using task manager, I can see network usage is very low. Cpu usage it's really low. Disk usage it's high, but read/write are just 1 or 2 mb/sec. The HD perfo are highest., so, seems is not the bottlenek. .

Any idea?

[ABCbits]

Seems my config is not scaling the pc capacity.
Using task manager, I can see network usage is very low. Cpu usage it's really low. Disk usage it's high, but read/write are just 1 or 2 mb/sec. The HD perfo are highest., so, seems is not the bottlenek. .

Any idea?

Keep in mind that 1-2 MB/s read/write speed is random read/write speed, not sequential read/write speed (usually about 100-200MB/s for HDD). Bitcoin sync and most computing tasks uses random read/write speed.
Your HDD clearly is the bottleneck.

If you have SSD with low capacity, you could move chainstate file to SSD which could improve the performance significantly.
SEe https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Splitting_the_data_directory

[unsoindovo]

Seems my config is not scaling the pc capacity.
Using task manager, I can see network usage is very low. Cpu usage it's really low. Disk usage it's high, but read/write are just 1 or 2 mb/sec. The HD perfo are highest., so, seems is not the bottlenek. .

Any idea?

Keep in mind that 1-2 MB/s read/write speed is random read/write speed, not sequential read/write speed (usually about 100-200MB/s for HDD). Bitcoin sync and most computing tasks uses random read/write speed.
Your HDD clearly is the bottleneck.

If you have SSD with low capacity, you could move chainstate file to SSD which could improve the performance significantly.
SEe https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Splitting_the_data_directory

Seems this tip make me the day!!!
I have a ssd with no space for the blockchain data but with enough spase for the chains tate data.
I will try for sure to move it to ssd.
I will update this thread to help guys who have my issue!

[LoyceV]

dbcache=16000

That's your entire RAM, you should probably lower it.

I have a ssd with no space for the blockchain data but with enough spase for the chains tate data.
I will try for sure to move it to ssd.

That's what I do, it took me just a (full) day to download on my old i3 laptop running Linux. I set dbcache to 4096 for it, and leave the rest for normal Linux kernal file cache.

[DaveF]

Mostly what the above people have said.
Also, important to note about drive performance is use the proper / newer chipset drivers.
Windows will by default install a base set of drivers that work. Usually Intel has better drivers on their site.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-improve-pc-performance-by-fixing-the-intel-rapid-storage-technology-driver/

-Dave

[unsoindovo]

Mostly what the above people have said.
Also, important to note about drive performance is use the proper / newer chipset drivers.
Windows will by default install a base set of drivers that work. Usually Intel has better drivers on their site.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-improve-pc-performance-by-fixing-the-intel-rapid-storage-technology-driver/

-Dave

When I come back at home I will check this too.
Seems some drivers are really old, despite the latest  windows 10 massive update was done just few weeks ago!

[unsoindovo]

Seems my config is not scaling the pc capacity.
Using task manager, I can see network usage is very low. Cpu usage it's really low. Disk usage it's high, but read/write are just 1 or 2 mb/sec. The HD perfo are highest., so, seems is not the bottlenek. .

Any idea?

Keep in mind that 1-2 MB/s read/write speed is random read/write speed, not sequential read/write speed (usually about 100-200MB/s for HDD). Bitcoin sync and most computing tasks uses random read/write speed.
Your HDD clearly is the bottleneck.

If you have SSD with low capacity, you could move chainstate file to SSD which could improve the performance significantly.
SEe https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Splitting_the_data_directory

i can confirm this fix my issue.
opened bitcoin core wallet right now, after chainstate was moved to a ssd disk and created simbolic link.
result: i update my local blockchain, 2 days old, in 3 minutes!
it's awesome!!!
thank you very much ETFbitcoin !
i give you 10 merits for the help!

[Dabs]

Why 0.18.0, 0.18.1 is already out. The splitting the data directory is a useful tip, I might try that too. I still store the whole thing on a spinning platter.

[LoyceV]

Why 0.18.0, 0.18.1 is already out. The splitting the data directory is a useful tip, I might try that too. I still store the whole thing on a spinning platter.

The huge improvement in startup time alone is worth putting chainstate on SSD

[unsoindovo]

Why 0.18.0, 0.18.1 is already out. The splitting the data directory is a useful tip, I might try that too. I still store the whole thing on a spinning platter.

Trust me.
I have done the test today.
The improvement it's really tangible.
Then I test if all is OK pushing a transaction and all works fine!
Sync bitcoin blockchain issue will be just a bad memory.