I know that I have already seen information on the forum about moving the directory with “db” files.
Unfortunately, I cannot find this topic.
I only have 90 GB left on the system drive.
He would like to transfer only this directory to, for example, a 2TB Samsung M.2 NVMe 4.0 990PRO drive, which will be connected to an external USB 3.2 port.
Is it good idea?
Any advice?
How to go about it so as not to mess up…
The DB location is in the config file, close down Chia, then edit the location to point to your new location.
Search for “database_path:” mine doesn’t contain the full path, but I’m pretty sure you can specify a full path.
I’d personally rather have the DB on an internal drive.
This will fix your issue for the better.
Samsung 870 EVO 1TB 2.5 inch Internal SSD MZ-77E1T0B/AM 100% good health 0 WRITE 887276431970 | eBay
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I just bought two of these, I will replace the C: drive on a machine later ( I use Acronis to clone the disk) works easy!!!
Thanks for the info!
That’s what I read on various sources, but I haven’t looked into chia files yet.
Where did the idea for an external way come from?
My current harvester was previously also one of the plotters.
Both internal (located on the MB) NVMe already show TBW 0% - and replacing them would require quite a lot of work related to dismantling the mass of fans and cables (I have a quite compact and complicated structure of the unit, which is now a harvester). Therefore, I do not want to allocate space for the “db” database on old NVMe - hence the idea for an external USB 3.2/or USB-C drive. I think that 2 TB will be enough for a few years, and the data transfer on these files is a series of fast, but small amounts of data.
I hope the speed will be sufficient.
The memory will hang somewhere at the back of the PC, cooled by a radiator and fans.
I’m sure it will be fast enough.
Hey,
thanks for the tip.
I currently have a Samsung 870 EVO, only 0.5TB.
When installing WIN, of course, I did it on a small 0.5 TB disk (as always, only for the system and the most important things).
Unfortunately, when installing chia, I didn’t think about it (I didn’t know?) and instead of installing it on the second disk (870 EVO 2TB - which is now boring and there are…plots on it), I also installed it on the system disk.
I would like to have a faster memory when making the change (for the future).
Heh… you have incredibly good prices in the USA…
EDIT:
I’m now in Asia, the land where they make most of the HDDs and other PC components and the prices are crazy…
The world economy is a “twisted thing”!
If you have a free PCIe slot, you can get a PCIe NVMe based card that will run close to NVMe speed (e.g., https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JM5FVC7).
Also, USB speed will not be a limiting factor, but the SATA controller used. There are USB NVMe dongles that will run about 2x faster than SSDs (e.g., https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RVC6F9Y).
You can safely go with a 1 TB NVMe/SSD, and still keep several bc db backups on it.
Hi Jacek!
It’s a good idea. However, I have already used all the PCIe slots on this machine (literally all of them!) for PCIe SATA3 cards for my HDDs.
I know - such a solution with a db file storage would be more reasonable, based on a certain MB connection.
I have such a solution on three free PCIE slots in one of my plotters.
If you buy a good card - the NVMe drive gives really good speeds…
That is why you should use SAS HBA cards, and an expander. My expander is not even in a slot, it uses a mining riser to power it and 3D printed bracket just to keep it stable, all an expander needs is power.
What’s right is right!
Unfortunately, this is how I “made it” - now I have to dance to a song I composed earlier…
I used a 2.5" SSD externally with an Optiplex. Worked fine.
Hi @drhicom , @Jacek , @Ronski !
The day has come…
There’s not much space left…
I ordered a PCIe x4 card adapter and nvme from Samsung (990 Pro 2TB):
It’s time to “divorce” the system disk with db files.
Does anyone have a screenshot of what it looks like in the file, where the path should be changed and what files should be transferred (or the entire db directory?)? I would be grateful - someone would feel more confident making changes… Of course, I will make a backup properly.
I haven’t moved it myself, it still resides in its normal location on C.
Here’s a guide I found from Googling.
A symbolic link should work, negating the need to make edits to your config.yaml file.
In Linux, it is the ln command.
In Windows, it is the mklink command.
You would 1) shut down Chia, followed by 2) moving your “.chia” directory (and all sub-directories) to your new drive, and then 3) creating a symbolic link named “.chia” where the original “.chia” directory used to reside, and point that symbolic link to your new “.chia” directory that is on your new drive.
Start up Chia, and everything should work.
Editing the various lines in your config.yaml would probably be ideal, if every edit is done right. But one missed line, or type-o, and you will have unpredictable issues.
The same could be said with symbolic link option.
Reference “man ln” for Linux, or type “mklink” with no option in Windows, to ensure that you use the correct syntax for creating the link.
You have either option (config.yaml edits or a symbolic link) available, for whichever one you feel more comfortable.
I try to keep it simple, I just cloned the disk onto a Samsung EVO 1TB SSD and be done with it.
Thank you all, colleagues, for your valuable advice!
Meanwhile…Who said that shopping is easy?
Amazon.com: SAMSUNG 990 PRO Series - 2TB PCIe Gen4. X4 NVMe 2.0c - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V9P2T0B/AM) : Electronics
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How many do you want??
Thanks!
But for me from Amazon it won’t be until the end of May. I wanted something quick from the local market to do over the weekend.
I replied that it could also happen with “iron”.
I see that there are 4 pieces in stock.
When I bought “normal” yesterday, there were also 3 pieces.
Such magic… 
Here is a 2TB 990 Pro, with a heat-sink, for $169.99.
It has a different part number than the one that @drhicom posted.
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Expansion-Compatible-Playstation5-MZ-V9P2T0CW/dp/B0BHJDY57J?th=1
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-2tb-990-pro-w-heatsink-normal-package/p/N82E16820147863