We are having an issue with parity, we are running it with archive pruning and sealing trying to keep the complete state of the blockchain (because we are using the rpc to query ALL aspects of it for export to a sql db). However recently we have found that it is not up to sync and is syncing so slow that it currently is not able to catch up. I ran the iotop utility and found parity to be using nearly 100% of the I/O capacity on a dedicated server with specs:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230v6 - 4c/8t - 3.5GHz /3.9GHz RAM: 16GB DDR4 ECC 2400 MHz HDD: Sata 4TB
Output of iotop:
TID PRIO USER DISK READ DISK WRITE SWAPIN IO> COMMAND
4740 be/4 ethereum 766.54 K/s 0.00 B/s 0.00 % 99.99 % parity --relay-set strict --force-sealing --cache-size-db 4096 --jsonrpc-hosts all --pruning=archive --tracing=on --notify-work=http://localhost:3030 [IO Worker #3]
4757 be/4 ethereum 581.78 K/s 0.00 B/s 0.00 % 77.99 % parity --relay-set strict --force-sealing --cache-size-db 4096 --jsonrpc-hosts all --pruning=archive --tracing=on --notify-work=http://localhost:3030 [IO Worker #2]
4758 be/4 ethereum 283.03 K/s 0.00 B/s 0.00 % 50.83 % parity --relay-set strict --force-sealing --cache-size-db 4096 --jsonrpc-hosts all --pruning=archive --tracing=on --notify-work=http://localhost:3030 [IO Worker #3]
4755 be/4 ethereum 169.03 K/s 0.00 B/s 0.00 % 42.55 % parity --relay-set strict --force-sealing --cache-size-db 4096 --jsonrpc-hosts all --pruning=archive --tracing=on --notify-work=http://localhost:3030 [IO Worker #0]
4756 be/4 ethereum 176.89 K/s 0.00 B/s 0.00 % 32.75 % parity --relay-set strict --force-sealing --cache-size-db 4096 --jsonrpc-hosts all --pruning=archive --tracing=on --notify-work=http://localhost:3030 [IO Worker #1]
Some things that are odd, parity Syncs one block multiple times, the output seems to be missing some blocks in some cases, and the output is exactly every 10 seconds. At this rate parity will never fully sync though and will not catch up to the most recent blocks. Output of parity originally at 1Gb (--cache-size-db 1024) cache size:
2017-12-12 10:14:53 Syncing #4705029 0933…3695 0 blk/s 13 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 32/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:03 Syncing #4705029 0933…3695 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 31/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:13 Syncing #4705030 7a7c…ec0a 0 blk/s 10 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 31/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:23 Syncing #4705030 7a7c…ec0a 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 31/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:33 Syncing #4705031 f29b…2cb2 0 blk/s 12 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 34/50 peers 3 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:43 Syncing #4705031 f29b…2cb2 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 39/50 peers 4 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:15:53 Syncing #4705031 f29b…2cb2 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 640 Qed #4705673 41/50 peers 5 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:16:13 Syncing #4705033 8e92…a680 0 blk/s 8 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 39/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:16:23 Syncing #4705033 8e92…a680 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 39/50 peers 9 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:16:33 Syncing #4705034 c39e…55e3 0 blk/s 11 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 42/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:16:43 Syncing #4705034 c39e…55e3 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 42/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:16:53 Syncing #4705035 c822…6a33 0 blk/s 19 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 43/50 peers 5 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:03 Syncing #4705035 c822…6a33 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 43/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:13 Syncing #4705036 0159…63bf 0 blk/s 13 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 47/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:23 Syncing #4705036 0159…63bf 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 636 Qed #4705673 49/50 peers 9 MiB chain 18 MiB db 67 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:33 Syncing #4705037 40e1…cebc 0 blk/s 13 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 49/50 peers 8 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:43 Syncing #4705037 40e1…cebc 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 50/50 peers 5 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:17:53 Syncing #4705038 950c…3a1b 0 blk/s 11 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 48/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:18:03 Syncing #4705038 950c…3a1b 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 48/50 peers 5 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:18:13 Syncing #4705039 6019…beea 0 blk/s 9 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 49/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:18:23 Syncing #4705039 6019…beea 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 50/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:18:33 Syncing #4705040 770a…eb95 0 blk/s 14 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 49/50 peers 8 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 10:18:43 Syncing #4705040 770a…eb95 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 632 Qed #4705673 48/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 66 MiB queue 27 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
Output of parity at 4Gb cache:
2017-12-12 18:32:23 Syncing #4707265 8d23…c30a 0 blk/s 22 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 541 Qed #4707810 32/50 peers 7 MiB chain 18 MiB db 63 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:32:33 Syncing #4707268 e01b…ffa0 0 blk/s 24 tx/s 2 Mgas/s 0+ 541 Qed #4707810 35/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 63 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:32:43 Syncing #4707268 e01b…ffa0 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 541 Qed #4707810 36/50 peers 8 MiB chain 18 MiB db 63 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:32:53 Syncing #4707270 aa17…5c58 0 blk/s 22 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 537 Qed #4707810 38/50 peers 8 MiB chain 18 MiB db 62 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:03 Syncing #4707272 20a9…44e7 0 blk/s 19 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 537 Qed #4707810 39/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 62 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:13 Syncing #4707273 2db9…8c5f 0 blk/s 16 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 533 Qed #4707810 38/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 62 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:23 Syncing #4707275 56df…7e73 0 blk/s 34 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 533 Qed #4707810 42/50 peers 8 MiB chain 18 MiB db 62 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:33 Syncing #4707277 8037…22cc 0 blk/s 31 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 529 Qed #4707810 42/50 peers 6 MiB chain 18 MiB db 61 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:43 Syncing #4707277 8037…22cc 0 blk/s 0 tx/s 0 Mgas/s 0+ 529 Qed #4707810 42/50 peers 3 MiB chain 18 MiB db 61 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:33:53 Syncing #4707279 dc6b…a350 0 blk/s 25 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 529 Qed #4707810 39/50 peers 4 MiB chain 18 MiB db 61 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs
2017-12-12 18:34:03 Syncing #4707281 8a32…73e7 0 blk/s 25 tx/s 1 Mgas/s 0+ 525 Qed #4707810 22/25 peers 9 MiB chain 18 MiB db 61 MiB queue 13 MiB sync RPC: 0 conn, 0 req/s, 0 µs