Author: Eric Voskuil 2017-04-07 23:51:08
Published on: 2017-04-07T23:51:08+00:00
A recent discussion on the bitcoin-dev mailing list debated whether application-layer caching is necessary given that in some cases, allowing the operating system (OS) to use disk caching or memory map caching can be more effective. The Bitcoin data model is neither continuous nor strictly segregated by usage, so it’s difficult to determine if a cache is truly beneficial. However, on lower memory systems, an explicit cache is beneficial and can be measured in production code by changing the cache limit and testing on various configurations. On high RAM systems, any cache is actually a de-optimization but on low RAM systems, it can prevent excessive paging. An independent UTXO store is not a reasonable/necessary trade of disk space, memory scalability and/or code complexity in exchange for speed.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T23:51:16.467095+00:00