Ethereum: Force-geth to save state to disk periodically

As a node administrator with Lighthouse, you have probably encountered issues where your Ethereum node crashes due to lack of memory. This can be frustrating, especially when working with large projects that require significant computing resources.

In this article, we will explore why geth nodes sometimes fail to save their state to disk and provide suggestions on how to fix the problem.

Why does geth struggle to save state to disk?

There are several reasons why geth may experience memory issues when trying to save its state to disk. Here are some possible causes:

• Outdated node software: If your node software is outdated, it may not be able to handle large amounts of data storage efficiently.

• Insufficient RAM: A lack of RAM can cause your node to crash or become unstable due to a lack of resources.

• High-Density Consensus: When you enable high-density consensus (ie more transactions per block), geth may require more memory to process and save data, leading to crashes.

• Large Block Size: Increasing the block size can lead to increased memory usage when saving state to disk.

Solution: Force-geth to save state to disk periodically

To fix the problem of geth nodes crashing due to lack of memory, you can try the following solution:

• Set maxBlockSize: You can set the maximum block size for your node by adding the maxBlockSize setting to the geth.json configuration file:

{
"luka": 8545,
"minGasPrice": 0,
"gasMaxPriorityFee": 20,
// ... other settings ...
"maxBlockSize": 100000, // Set this to a reasonable value for your node
}

• Increase RAM allocation: Make sure you have enough RAM allocated for your node by increasing the ram setting in the geth.json configuration file:

{
"luka": 8545,
"minGasPrice": 0,
"gasMaxPriorityFee": 20,
// ... other settings ...
"ram": 16, // Increase this value to at least 16 GB for a stable node
}

• Disable high-density consensus: If you are using high-density consensus, try disabling it by setting the consensusMode setting in the geth.json configuration file to "EthCore":

{
"port": 8545,
"minGasPrice": 0,
"gasMaxPriorityFee": 20,
// ... other settings ...
"consensusMode": "EthCore",
}

• Check for Lighthouse plugin conflicts: Check that your node does not have any conflicts with the Lighthouse plugin, which may be consuming excessive resources or causing memory issues.

Monitoring and maintenance

To further troubleshoot the problem, consider monitoring your node’s performance using tools such as:

• geth metrics: Use geth’s built-in metrics to monitor memory usage and other resource-related data.

• Lighthouse Logs: Check the Lighthouse logs for errors or warnings related to memory issues.

By implementing these solutions, you should be able to resolve the issue of geth nodes crashing due to lack of memory. If the problem persists after these steps, please provide more details about your node and configuration and I’ll do my best to help you further!