**Q.** I would like to run multiple geth instances but got the error "Fatal: blockchain db err: resource temporarily unavailable".
**A.** Geth uses a datadir to store the blockchain, accounts and some additional information. This directory cannot be shared between running instances. If you would like to run multiple instances follow [these](../doc/setting-up-private-network-or-local-cluster) instructions.
**A.** Geth uses a datadir to store the blockchain, accounts and some additional information. This directory cannot be shared between running instances. If you would like to run multiple instances follow [these](../getting-started/private-net) instructions.
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@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Many people falsely assume that because they have the blocks, they are in sync.
So, what's the state trie? In the Ethereum mainnet, there are a ton of accounts already, which track the balance, nonce, etc of each user/contract. The accounts themselves are however insufficient to run a node, they need to be cryptographically linked to each block so that nodes can actually verify that the account's are not tampered with. This cryptographic linking is done by creating a tree data structure above the accounts, each level aggregating the layer below it into an ever smaller layer, until you reach the single root. This gigantic data structure containing all the accounts and the intermediate cryptographic proofs is called the state trie.
Ok, so why does this pose a problem? This trie data structure is an intricate interlink of hundreds of millions of tiny cryptographic proofs (trie nodes). To truly have a synchronized node, you need to download all the account data, as well as all the tiny cryptographic proofs to verify that noone in the network is trying to cheat you. This itself is already a crazy number of data items. The part where it gets even messier is that this data is constantly morphing: at every block (15s), about 1000 nodes are deleted from this trie and about 2000 new ones are added. This means your node needs to synchronize a dataset that is changing 200 times per second. The worst part is that while you are synchronizing, the network is moving forward, and state that you begun to download might disappear while you're downloading, so your node needs to constantly follow the network while trying to gather all the recent data. But until you actually do gather all the data, your local node is not usable since it cannot cryptographically prove anything about any accounts.
Ok, so why does this pose a problem? This trie data structure is an intricate interlink of hundreds of millions of tiny cryptographic proofs (trie nodes). To truly have a synchronized node, you need to download all the account data, as well as all the tiny cryptographic proofs to verify that noone in the network is trying to cheat you. This itself is already a crazy number of data items. The part where it gets even messier is that this data is constantly morphing: at every block (15s), about 1000 nodes are deleted from this trie and about 2000 new ones are added. This means your node needs to synchronize a dataset that is changing 200 times per second. The worst part is that while you are synchronizing, the network is moving forward, and state that you begun to download might disappear while you're downloading, so your node needs to constantly follow the network while trying to gather all the recent data. But until you actually do gather all the data, your local node is not usable since it cannot cryptographically prove anything about any accounts.
If you see that you are 64 blocks behind mainnet, you aren't yet synchronized, not even close. You are just done with the block download phase and still running the state downloads. You can see this yourself via the seemingly endless `Imported state entries [...]` stream of logs. You'll need to wait that out too before your node comes truly online.