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Update tmpfs partition guidance to include swap

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This commit is contained in:
Michael Vines
2021-01-01 19:21:50 -08:00
committed by mergify[bot]
parent db6ee289c9
commit 68a84cf581
1 changed files with 29 additions and 11 deletions
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40
docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md
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@ -371,17 +371,35 @@ Once your validator is operating normally, you can reduce the time it takes to
restart your validator by adding the `--no-port-check` flag to your
`solana-validator` command-line.
### Using a ramdisk for the accounts database to reduce SSD wear
If your machine has plenty of RAM, a ramdisk
### Disable snapshot compression to reduce CPU usage
If you are not serving snapshots to other validators, snapshot compression can
be disabled to reduce CPU load at the expense of slightly more disk usage for
local snapshot storage.
Add the `--snapshot-compression none` argument to your `solana-validator`
command-line arguments and restart the validator.
### Using a ramdisk with spill-over into swap for the accounts database to reduce SSD wear
If your machine has plenty of RAM, a tmpfs ramdisk
([tmpfs](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/tmpfs.5.html)) may be used to hold
the accounts database.
the accounts database
Assuming your tmpfs ramdisk is mounted at `/mnt/solana-accounts` and writable
by the validator user, add the `--accounts /mnt/solana-accounts` argument to
your validator command-line to use it. Once your validator restarts, you should
now see activity in `/mnt/solana-accounts` instead of the `accounts/`
subdirectory of your ledger (`--ledger` argument) directory.
When using tmpfs it's essential to also configure swap on your machine as well to
avoid running out of tmpfs space periodically.
For Mainnet Beta it's recommended that a ramdisk of 64GB be used. Note that if
your machine has less than 100GB of RAM in total, using a ramdisk is not
recommended.
A 300GB tmpfs partition is recommended, with an accompanying 250GB swap
partition.
Example configuration:
1. `sudo mkdir /mnt/solana-accounts`
2. Add a 300GB tmpfs parition by adding a new line containing `tmpfs
/mnt/solana-accounts tmpfs rw,size=300G,user=sol 0 0` to `/etc/fstab`
(assuming your validator is running under the user "sol"). **CAREFUL: If you
incorrectly edit /etc/fstab your machine may no longer boot**
3. Create a 250GB swap file with `sudo fallocate -l 250G /swapfile`, `sudo mkswap /swapfile`, `sudo chmod 0600 /swapfile`
4. Add the swap file to `/etc/fstab` with a new line containing `/swapfile swap swap defaults 0 0`
5. Enable swap with `sudo swapon -a` and mount the tmpfs with `sudo mount /mnt/solana-accounts/`
6. Confirm swap is active with `free -g` and the tmpfs is mounted with `mount`
Now add the `--accounts /mnt/solana-accounts` argument to your `solana-validator`
command-line arguments and restart the validator.