speeding up disk-based laptop by moving /usr to flash?

[gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org (Jerry Feldman)]

Basically, even after reading all the replies, I still think that adding
more memory on the X41 (if possible) is the best initial approach. Then
possibly replacing the existing HD with a newer, faster, higher capacity
HD may be the best overall approach.

I do think that SSD drives are the future for storage, but I have held
that position since the 1970s, and the HD people continue to maintain
good speed, capacity, reliability, and cost that SSDs currently cannot
match.

Also note that while disk fragmentation is not usually an issue for a
Linux file system, when a file system starts to fill up (somewhere over
80% - depends on the file system) things can get fragmented, but unless
your root and /usr file systems are running well above that threshold,
fragmentation should not be an issue. The only reason I mentioned it is
that it can become an issue, but only for a very full file system, and
80% is an old rule of thumb.

Mark's point about memory is important. Unix and Linux systems buffer a
lot of stuff. Many shared objects and even programs may remain in
physical memory long after they are used. The more memory you have the
more things will remain in memory resulting in faster effective load time=
s.

On 12/03/2009 10:21 AM, Dan Ritter wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 03, 2009 at 02:39:52PM +0000, jay-R5TnC2l8y5lBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org wrote:
>  =20
>> 4. I believe that cf is a more direct connection to pc card than sd ca=
rds are. Which may give another edge to cf card in performance and speed.=

>>    =20
> Compact Flash is actually PATA in another form. You can buy a
> cheap adapter to go from a PC's PATA to a CF that doesn't do any
> protocol translation, just wiring.
>
> PCMCIA also implements PATA, and passes it through to CF.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompactFlash should be
> enlightening.
>
>  =20


--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
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