Because I didn't want to have to reboot, instead of making the existing 2 Gb swap file larger, I added a new 8 Gb one, and set it to a higher priority.
Interestingly, RAM usage has indeed gone up, and it's now hovering around 4.6 Gb out of 8 (3.2 -ish previously), at the expense of the cache. Swap usage however is basically the same, just 1.9 Gb out of the current 8+2= 10 Gb.
Even more interestingly, the monitor system now shows a more frequent receiving of data, as opposed to previously were it was showing brief bursts of around 5 seconds every one minute or so.
I hope this means somehow Bitcoin Core is now processing more stuff and retrieving blocks at a faster pace.
quotingSo this past couple of days once again I've been trying to set up Bitcore on Ubuntu on an older laptop. Of course not enough disk space so I have to use an external SSD, yadda yadda.
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Last time I tried, months ago, it was an abject failure. It just isn't something possible.
Last time I was able to modify the files and change the working directories and download the blockchain on the external drive, which took like a week working 24/7, only to have the stupid program restart the download every time it finished.
Boggles my mind that the "Bitcoin community" cares so little to fix something like this which would seem absolutely basic if they really wanted "adoption".
At this stage it seems impossible in practical terms to run your own node unless you shell a lot of cash for off the shelf hardware that let's not full ourselves is otherwise mediocre for what it costs. Nobody likes Bitcoin that much, sorry.