diff --git a/lib/constants.js b/lib/constants.js
index 0e9cd8bb..c317ff61 100644
--- a/lib/constants.js
+++ b/lib/constants.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ module.exports = {
     regtest: '0f9188f13cb7b2c71f2a335e3a4fc328bf5beb436012afca590b1a11466e2206',
     testnet: '000000000933ea01ad0ee984209779baaec3ced90fa3f408719526f8d77f4943', //this is testnet3
     testnet5: '000000000933ea01ad0ee984209779baaec3ced90fa3f408719526f8d77f4943' //this is testnet5
-  }
+  },
+  DB_PREFIX: new Buffer('ffff', 'hex')
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/scaffold/start.js b/lib/scaffold/start.js
index 0f31ee96..8dcb2c94 100644
--- a/lib/scaffold/start.js
+++ b/lib/scaffold/start.js
@@ -10,28 +10,15 @@ var shuttingDown = false;
 var fs = require('fs');
 
 
-/**
- * This function will instantiate and start a Node, requiring the necessary service
- * modules, and registering event handlers.
- * @param {Object} options
- * @param {Object} options.servicesPath - The path to the location of service modules
- * @param {String} options.path - The absolute path of the configuration file
- * @param {Object} options.config - The parsed bitcore-node.json configuration file
- * @param {Array}  options.config.services - An array of services names.
- * @param {Object} options.config.servicesConfig - Parameters to pass to each service
- * @param {String} options.config.network - 'livenet', 'testnet' or 'regtest
- * @param {Number} options.config.port - The port to use for the web service
- */
 function start(options) {
-  /* jshint maxstatements: 20 */
 
   var fullConfig = _.clone(options.config);
 
   var servicesPath;
   if (options.servicesPath) {
-    servicesPath = options.servicesPath; // services are in a different directory than the config
+    servicesPath = options.servicesPath;
   } else {
-    servicesPath = options.path; // defaults to the same directory
+    servicesPath = options.path;
   }
 
   fullConfig.path = path.resolve(options.path, './bitcore-node.json');
@@ -201,11 +188,6 @@ function setupServices(req, servicesPath, config) {
   return services;
 }
 
-/**
- * Will shutdown a node and then the process
- * @param {Object} _process - The Node.js process object
- * @param {Node} node - The Bitcore Node instance
- */
 function cleanShutdown(_process, node) {
   node.stop(function(err) {
     if(err) {
@@ -217,15 +199,6 @@ function cleanShutdown(_process, node) {
   });
 }
 
-/**
- * Will handle all the shutdown tasks that need to take place to ensure a safe exit
- * @param {Object} options
- * @param {String} options.sigint - The signal given was a SIGINT
- * @param {Array}  options.exit - The signal given was an uncaughtException
- * @param {Object} _process - The Node.js process
- * @param {Node} node
- * @param {Error} error
-*/
 function exitHandler(options, _process, node, err) {
   if (err) {
     log.error('uncaught exception:', err);
@@ -247,17 +220,8 @@ function exitHandler(options, _process, node, err) {
   }
 }
 
-/**
- * Will register event handlers to stop the node for `process` events
- * `uncaughtException` and `SIGINT`.
- * @param {Object} _process - The Node.js process
- * @param {Node} node
- */
 function registerExitHandlers(_process, node) {
-  //catches uncaught exceptions
   _process.on('uncaughtException', exitHandler.bind(null, {exit:true}, _process, node));
-
-  //catches ctrl+c event
   _process.on('SIGINT', exitHandler.bind(null, {sigint:true}, _process, node));
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/services/block/index.js b/lib/services/block/index.js
index ba116bf1..6a55b132 100644
--- a/lib/services/block/index.js
+++ b/lib/services/block/index.js
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ BlockService.prototype.isSynced = function(callback) {
 BlockService.prototype.start = function(callback) {
 
   var self = this;
-  self._setListeners();
 
   async.waterfall([
     function(next) {
@@ -191,6 +190,7 @@ BlockService.prototype.start = function(callback) {
     if(err) {
       return callback(err);
     }
+    self._setListeners();
     self._startSubscriptions();
     callback();
   });
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ BlockService.prototype._getIncompleteChainIndexes = function(block) {
 BlockService.prototype._getOldBlocks = function(currentHash, commonAncestorHash) {
   // the old blocks should be in the meta colection
 
-  if (currentHash === commonAncestorHash || !commonAncestor || !currentHash) {
+  if (currentHash === commonAncestorHash || !commonAncestorHash || !currentHash) {
     return;
   }
 
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ BlockService.prototype._handleReorg = function(block) {
   var commonAncestor = this._findCommonAncestor(block);
   var oldBlocks = this._getOldBlocks(this._tip.hash, block.hash, commonAncestor.hash);
 
-  if (!commonAncestor || !oldBlocks || oldBlock.length < 1) {
+  if (!commonAncestor || !oldBlocks || oldBlocks.length < 1) {
     log.error('A common ancestor block between hash: ' + this._tip.hash + ' (our current tip) and: ' +
       block.hash + ' (the forked block) could not be found. Bitcore-node must exit.');
     this.node.stop();
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ BlockService.prototype._saveMetaData = function(block) {
 
   // tip
   this._tip.hash = block.hash;
-  this._tip.height = block.height;
+  this._tip.height = this._meta.length;
 
   var tipInfo = utils.encodeTip(this._tip, this.name);
 
@@ -662,18 +662,27 @@ BlockService.prototype._sendDelta = function() {
 
   if (++this._blockCount >= BlockService.MAX_BLOCKS) {
     this._latestBlockHash = this._tip.hash;
-    this._numCompleted = this._tip.height;
     this._blockCount = 0;
-    this._sync();
+    // this is where we ask the p2p network for more block
+    var self = this;
+
+    // we need a pause here before asking for more blocks so that the db work write queue,
+    // does not get too large and cause a memory issue
+    // the larger the difference between network speeds and disk i/o speeds should result in
+    // larger waits, e.g. gigabit internet speeds and a usb 2.0 5400 rpm hard disk might 10-20
+    // between each 500 block chunk
+    setTimeout(function() {
+
+      self._sync();
+
+    }, 10000);
   }
 
 };
 
 BlockService.prototype._setListeners = function() {
 
-  var self = this;
-
-  self._p2p.once('bestHeight', self._onBestHeight.bind(self));
+  this._p2p.once('bestHeight', this._onBestHeight.bind(this));
 
 };
 
@@ -681,14 +690,11 @@ BlockService.prototype._setTip = function(tip) {
   log.debug('Setting tip to height: ' + tip.height);
   log.debug('Setting tip to hash: ' + tip.hash);
   this._tip = tip;
-  this._db.setServiceTip('block', this._tip);
 };
 
 BlockService.prototype._startSync = function() {
 
-  var currentHeight = this._tip.height;
-  this._numNeeded = this._bestHeight - currentHeight;
-  this._numCompleted = currentHeight;
+  this._numNeeded = this._bestHeight - this._tip.height;
   if (this._numNeeded <= 0) {
     return;
   }
@@ -719,8 +725,8 @@ BlockService.prototype._sync = function() {
 
   if (--this._p2pBlockCallsNeeded > 0) {
 
-    log.info('Blocks download progress: ' + this._numCompleted + '/' +
-      this._numNeeded + '  (' + (this._numCompleted/this._numNeeded*100).toFixed(2) + '%)');
+    log.info('Blocks download progress: ' + this._tip.height + '/' +
+      this._numNeeded + '  (' + (this._tip.height / this._numNeeded*100).toFixed(2) + '%)');
     this._p2p.getBlocks({ startHash: this._latestBlockHash });
     return;
 
diff --git a/lib/services/db/index.js b/lib/services/db/index.js
index fc454e9a..36863893 100644
--- a/lib/services/db/index.js
+++ b/lib/services/db/index.js
@@ -22,11 +22,10 @@ function DB(options) {
 
   Service.call(this, options);
 
+  this._dbPrefix = constants.DB_PREFIX;
+
   this.version = 1;
 
-  this.dbPrefix = new Buffer('00', 'hex');
-
-  $.checkState(this.node.network, 'Node is expected to have a "network" property');
   this.network = this.node.network;
 
   this._setDataPath();
@@ -38,8 +37,10 @@ function DB(options) {
 
   this.subscriptions = {};
 
-  this._operationsQueue = 0;
   this.GENESIS_HASH = constants.BITCOIN_GENESIS_HASH[this.node.getNetworkName()];
+  this.node.on('stopping', function() {
+    log.warn('Node is stopping, gently closing the database.');
+  });
 }
 
 util.inherits(DB, Service);
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ DB.prototype._checkVersion = function(callback) {
   // presupposition is that IF there is a database to open -and- there is a version key
   // in the form below, it will be related to us and it must be equal to this service's version.
 
-  var versionBuf = Buffer.concat([ self.dbPrefix, new Buffer('version', 'utf8') ]);
+  var versionBuf = Buffer.concat([ self._dbPrefix, new Buffer('version', 'utf8') ]);
   self.get(versionBuf, self.dbOptions, function(err, buffer) {
 
     if (err) {
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ DB.prototype._checkVersion = function(callback) {
 DB.prototype._setVersion = function(callback) {
   var versionBuffer = new Buffer(new Array(4));
   versionBuffer.writeUInt32BE(this.version);
-  this.put(this.dbPrefix + 'version', versionBuffer, callback);
+  this.put(this._dbPrefix + 'version', versionBuffer, callback);
 };
 
 DB.prototype.start = function(callback) {
@@ -157,11 +158,8 @@ DB.prototype.put = function(key, value, options) {
     return;
   }
 
-  self._operationsQueue++;
   self._store.put(key, value, options, function(err) {
 
-    self._operationsQueue--;
-
     if (err) {
       self.emit('error', err);
       return;
@@ -178,11 +176,8 @@ DB.prototype.batch = function(ops, options) {
     return;
   }
 
-  self._operationsQueue += ops.length;
   self._store.batch(ops, options, function(err) {
 
-    self._operationsQueue -= ops.length;
-
     if (err) {
       self.emit('error', err);
       return;
@@ -198,7 +193,7 @@ DB.prototype.createReadStream = function(op) {
     stream = this._store.createReadStream(op);
   }
   if (stream) {
-    stream.on('error', this.onError.bind(this));
+    stream.on('error', this._onError.bind(this));
   }
   return stream;
 };
@@ -217,13 +212,7 @@ DB.prototype.createKeyStream = function(op) {
 DB.prototype.stop = function(callback) {
   var self = this;
   self._stopping = true;
-  async.whilst(function() {
-    return self._operationsQueue > 0;
-  }, function(next) {
-    setTimeout(next, 3000);
-  }, function() {
-    self.close(callback);
-  });
+  self.close(callback);
 };
 
 DB.prototype.close = function(callback) {
@@ -243,7 +232,7 @@ DB.prototype.getPublishEvents = function() {
 
 DB.prototype.getServiceTip = function(serviceName, callback) {
 
-  var keyBuf = Buffer.concat([ this.dbPrefix, new Buffer('tip-' + serviceName, 'utf8') ]);
+  var keyBuf = Buffer.concat([ this._dbPrefix, new Buffer('tip-' + serviceName, 'utf8') ]);
 
   var self = this;
   self.get(keyBuf, function(err, tipBuf) {
@@ -278,8 +267,8 @@ DB.prototype.getServiceTip = function(serviceName, callback) {
 DB.prototype.getPrefix = function(service, callback) {
   var self = this;
 
-    var keyBuf = Buffer.concat([ self.dbPrefix, new Buffer('prefix-', 'utf8'), new Buffer(service, 'utf8') ]);
-    var unusedBuf = Buffer.concat([ self.dbPrefix, new Buffer('nextUnused', 'utf8') ]);
+    var keyBuf = Buffer.concat([ self._dbPrefix, new Buffer('prefix-', 'utf8'), new Buffer(service, 'utf8') ]);
+    var unusedBuf = Buffer.concat([ self._dbPrefix, new Buffer('nextUnused', 'utf8') ]);
 
   function getPrefix(next) {
 
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 6460d821..08193595 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ var BufferUtil = bitcore.util.buffer;
 var MAX_SAFE_INTEGER = 0x1fffffffffffff; // 2 ^ 53 - 1
 var crypto = require('crypto');
 var _ = require('lodash');
+var constants = require('./constants');
 
 var utils = {};
 utils.isHash = function(value) {
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ utils.removeItemsByIndexList = function(indexList, list) {
 };
 
 utils.encodeTip = function(tip, name) {
-  var key = Buffer.concat([ new Buffer('00', 'hex'),
+  var key = Buffer.concat([ constants.DB_PREFIX,
     new Buffer('tip-' + name, 'utf8') ]);
 
   var heightBuf = new Buffer(4);