Volker Armin Hemmann <volker.armin.hemmann <at> tu-clausthal.de> writes:
> On Donnerstag 27 November 2008, Grant wrote: > > I'm considering buying a solid-state drive to improve I/O performance > > and even reduce noise. Has anyone tried this? I was considering > > getting the lowest capacity I can find and putting most of the system > > on it. There is a roundup on tomshardware.com and it sounds like some > > are very much better than others. SLC sounds vastly superior compared > > to MLC, but also much more expensive. > > - Grant > http://valhenson.livejournal.com/25228.html > I would rethink that after reading that post. Well, I do not agree with that post, but, that's because there are a few caveats. First, do purchase quality Flash, like sandisk. Sandisk have very expensive units that are touted as HD replacesments. I use their lower end CF 4Gb media. Cheap flash chips will dies very easily. Second. Do not use Flash drives to replace a busy hard drive. BAD IDEA (period). Now if you what to build a 'pseudo' embedded server, say for a firewall (nfs the log files and high throughput files), so you basically occasionally write to the drive, then it's a good idea. I'm preparing to build some nfs secondary servers, and slow down the updates, . If the files get too much turn over, then those files will move, via NFS mounts. Third. Infrequent syncing and updating. I've got one firewall up 3 months with no problems. That because most everything runs via ram. It's a work in progress. I know if you purchase one of those Sandisk Flash based drives they work fabulously, but they are the price of a 750 Gig Sata drive. Too rich for my blood. My approach is minimalistic servers that move hi activity files to somewhere in NFS land. The good new is CF based drives use much less power (much less generated heat) and are easy to duplicate. After some more months, I intend to build a wiki page on what I've learned..... unless somebody beats me to the punch.... ymmv, James
