Bitcoin Core - Full backup of everything

[LoyceV]

copy the entire current blockchain to an external HD or SSD (whichever I have available), but first I delete the outdated backup

This is how you lose your data! Imagine this: you delete your backup, and right after that your main drive fails. Data gone.

So there's nothing I can do to optimize how backups are handled, right? I've already considered that possibility.

If you want to update for instance an offline version of Bitcoin Core, rsync would work. The first time, copy everything, and after that, only update the data.

For regular backups, play around with rsync --link-dest= a bit. Something like:

Code:

mkdir /path/backup/todaysdate
rsync -avh --link-dest=/path/backup/yourlastbackupdate /home/user/.bitcoin /path/backup/currentdate

This makes your backup grow maybe 6-8 GB per week, plus 12 GB for chainstate. The latter will still consume a lot of disk space if you do frequent backups, your blocks directory will grow only for the new data. And you'll leave your previous backups unchanged.

[satscraper]

Hello,


(b) What's the ideal process?

I use two external SSDs to keep copies of the blockchain, with my node being interchangeably connected to one of them on monthly basis. I'm not sure if this is the ideal setup, but it works well for me. If the blockchain data on either disk becomes corrupted, I can always restore it from the other one. So far, it's been working fine.

[LoyceV]

I use two external SSDs to keep copies of the blockchain, with my node being interchangeably connected to one of them on monthly basis.

My experience with USB-cables is generally bad: at the slightest touch, the cable can disconnect. How do you avoid this risk long-term?

[satscraper]

I use two external SSDs to keep copies of the blockchain, with my node being interchangeably connected to one of them on monthly basis.

My experience with USB-cables is generally bad: at the slightest touch, the cable can disconnect. How do you avoid this risk long-term?

This is generally the problem associated with the faulty USB ports on machines rather than with high-quality USB cables.

I have six laptops ^{two of which are quite modern, while the other four are a bit outdated} and only one of them (from early 2018) has a loose USB port.

I always use a snug USB port and high-quality USB cables.

[LoyceV]

This is generally the problem associated with the faulty USB ports on machines rather than with high-quality USB cables.

I've experienced it on different ports on different laptops with different drives and USB sticks.... So I only use it for backups now, and don't dare touch the drives while copying data.

[satscraper]

This is generally the problem associated with the faulty USB ports on machines rather than with high-quality USB cables.

I've experienced it on different ports on different laptops with different drives and USB sticks.... So I only use it for backups now, and don't dare touch the drives while copying data.

I forgot to specify that I use Samsung EVO SSD with SATA interface, so to connect it to  USB port, I use StarTech SATA to USB cable. If you're using portable USB drives (i.e., those in external enclosures), you might encounter the problem you described. I have dozens of such drives, and some of them occasionally disconnect from the machine. However, I no longer use them for serious work.