[gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Philip Webb]

My regular machine has a Seagate SATA 320 GB ( 3 Gb/s 16 MB ).

Have SSDs reached the point where they are reliable & long-lasting ?
Should I perhaps install an SSD for some uses + an HDD for others ?
Is it viable to use an SSD for Portage ?

Apart from Portage + a few everyday files,
there isn't much churn among the stuff I have on my existing HDD (above).

I saw a recent thread on this topic, but further thoughts are welcome.

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca

Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:31:44 -0400, Philip Webb wrote:

> Have SSDs reached the point where they are reliable & long-lasting ?

Yes.

> Should I perhaps install an SSD for some uses + an HDD for others ?

That depends on how much storage you need. For large file storage,
especially things like video and ISO images where speed is less
important, a hard drive is good.

> Is it viable to use an SSD for Portage ?

Yes.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Earlier, I didn't have time to finish anything. This time I w

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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Paul Hartman]

On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 2:31 AM, Philip Webb <purslow@ca.inter.net> wrote:
> Is it viable to use an SSD for Portage ?

My nearly decade-old laptop, with a crappy Chinese brand of PATA SSD
blows away my i7 desktop which has a  fast HDD and 12GB of RAM when it
comes to emerge --sync and portage searches. Not to mention the laptop
boots to graphical login prompt in less than 5 seconds after I choose
Linux in the GRUB menu. Less heat and power usage, too.

So I think any modern computer with modern SSD should really fly. :)

Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

Am Freitag, 20. Juli 2012, 03:31:44 schrieb Philip Webb:
> My regular machine has a Seagate SATA 320 GB ( 3 Gb/s 16 MB ).
> 
> Have SSDs reached the point where they are reliable & long-lasting ?
> Should I perhaps install an SSD for some uses + an HDD for others ?
> Is it viable to use an SSD for Portage ?
> 
> Apart from Portage + a few everyday files,
> there isn't much churn among the stuff I have on my existing HDD (above).
> 
> I saw a recent thread on this topic, but further thoughts are welcome.

forget the i7. Buy something a lot cheaper and invest the money into a nice, 
fat SSD like Vertex3.

Money well spent. 

-- 
#163933

Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Jacques Montier]

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Hello,

I have just a (maybe silly) question...
I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
access.
Is it true or simply intox ?
On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
What do you think of it ?

Thank you,

Cheers

--
Jacques

2012/7/20 Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@googlemail.com>

> Am Freitag, 20. Juli 2012, 03:31:44 schrieb Philip Webb:
> > My regular machine has a Seagate SATA 320 GB ( 3 Gb/s 16 MB ).
> >
> > Have SSDs reached the point where they are reliable & long-lasting ?
> > Should I perhaps install an SSD for some uses + an HDD for others ?
> > Is it viable to use an SSD for Portage ?
> >
> > Apart from Portage + a few everyday files,
> > there isn't much churn among the stuff I have on my existing HDD (above).
> >
> > I saw a recent thread on this topic, but further thoughts are welcome.
>
> forget the i7. Buy something a lot cheaper and invest the money into a
> nice,
> fat SSD like Vertex3.
>
> Money well spent.
>
> --
> #163933
>
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Michael Hampicke]

> I have just a (maybe silly) question...
> I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
> access.
> Is it true or simply intox ?
> On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
> What do you think of it ?

This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
There you will find all the ansers you need.

If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.

Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Jul 22, 2012 11:23 PM, "Jacques Montier" <jmontier@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I have just a (maybe silly) question...
> I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
access.
> Is it true or simply intox ?
> On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
> What do you think of it ?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Cheers
>

My intuition said that separating a hard disk into several partitions
should result in a slightly faster system, because writes to different
partitions will not cause metadata contention (e.g., journal, volume
bitmap, etc.)

But that's just my intuition; I'd be very interested in a definitive answer
from anyone well-versed in filesystems.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Jacques Montier]

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Thanks Michael

--
Jacques


2012/7/22 Michael Hampicke <gentoo-user@hadt.biz>

> > I have just a (maybe silly) question...
> > I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
> > access.
> > Is it true or simply intox ?
> > On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
> > What do you think of it ?
>
> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>
> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Jul 23, 2012 12:05 AM, "Michael Hampicke" <gentoo-user@hadt.biz> wrote:
>
> > I have just a (maybe silly) question...
> > I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
> > access.
> > Is it true or simply intox ?
> > On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
> > What do you think of it ?
>
> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>
> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>

Even the venerable fdisk now properly align partitions, IIRC.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Florian Philipp]

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Am 22.07.2012 19:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
> 
> On Jul 23, 2012 12:05 AM, "Michael Hampicke" <gentoo-user@hadt.biz
> <mailto:gentoo-user@hadt.biz>> wrote:
>>
>> > I have just a (maybe silly) question...
>> > I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
>> > access.
>> > Is it true or simply intox ?
>> > On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
>> > What do you think of it ?
>>
>> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
>> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
>> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
>> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>>
>> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>>
> 
> Even the venerable fdisk now properly align partitions, IIRC.
> 
> Rgds,
> 

cfdisk is one of the few that don't.


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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Michael Hampicke]

Am 22.07.2012 19:46, schrieb Florian Philipp:
> Am 22.07.2012 19:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>>
>> On Jul 23, 2012 12:05 AM, "Michael Hampicke" <gentoo-user@hadt.biz
>> <mailto:gentoo-user@hadt.biz>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have just a (maybe silly) question...
>>>> I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
>>>> access.
>>>> Is it true or simply intox ?
>>>> On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
>>>> What do you think of it ?
>>>
>>> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
>>> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
>>> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
>>> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>>>
>>> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>>>
>>
>> Even the venerable fdisk now properly align partitions, IIRC.
>>
>> Rgds,
>>
> 
> cfdisk is one of the few that don't.
> 

Right, cfdisk was the one, but I always likes it's console 'gui' as it
was so easy to use. But cgdisk (of sys-apps/gptfdisk) is a good
replacement for cfdisk.

Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Florian Philipp]

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Am 22.07.2012 20:35, schrieb Michael Hampicke:
> Am 22.07.2012 19:46, schrieb Florian Philipp:
>> Am 22.07.2012 19:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>>>
>>> On Jul 23, 2012 12:05 AM, "Michael Hampicke" <gentoo-user@hadt.biz
>>> <mailto:gentoo-user@hadt.biz>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have just a (maybe silly) question...
>>>>> I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
>>>>> access.
>>>>> Is it true or simply intox ?
>>>>> On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
>>>>> What do you think of it ?
>>>>
>>>> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
>>>> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
>>>> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
>>>> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>>>>
>>>> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Even the venerable fdisk now properly align partitions, IIRC.
>>>
>>> Rgds,
>>>
>>
>> cfdisk is one of the few that don't.
>>
> 
> Right, cfdisk was the one, but I always likes it's console 'gui' as it
> was so easy to use. But cgdisk (of sys-apps/gptfdisk) is a good
> replacement for cfdisk.
> 

Good to know. cfdisk was my favorite, too.


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Re: [gentoo-user] new machine : (2) HDD or SSD ?

[Paul Hartman]

On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 1:46 PM, Florian Philipp <lists@binarywings.net> wrote:
> Am 22.07.2012 20:35, schrieb Michael Hampicke:
>> Am 22.07.2012 19:46, schrieb Florian Philipp:
>>> Am 22.07.2012 19:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 23, 2012 12:05 AM, "Michael Hampicke" <gentoo-user@hadt.biz
>>>> <mailto:gentoo-user@hadt.biz>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I have just a (maybe silly) question...
>>>>>> I saw on some forums that partitionning SSDs could slow down read/write
>>>>>> access.
>>>>>> Is it true or simply intox ?
>>>>>> On my sata HD, i have boot, /, usr and home separated partitions.
>>>>>> What do you think of it ?
>>>>>
>>>>> This could happen of the partitions on the SSD are not properly aligned.
>>>>> The guides I know on this subject are german, but thats no problem, just
>>>>> do a google search for something like "linux ssd partition alignment".
>>>>> There you will find all the ansers you need.
>>>>>
>>>>> If I remember correctly parted has a built-in alignment check.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Even the venerable fdisk now properly align partitions, IIRC.
>>>>
>>>> Rgds,
>>>>
>>>
>>> cfdisk is one of the few that don't.
>>>
>>
>> Right, cfdisk was the one, but I always likes it's console 'gui' as it
>> was so easy to use. But cgdisk (of sys-apps/gptfdisk) is a good
>> replacement for cfdisk.
>>
>
> Good to know. cfdisk was my favorite, too.

You can still use it, you just have to specify the start sector
yourself and don't accept the default. :)

4MB is almost always a safe starting point to use for SSD or other
flash-based storage. (Most fdisk tools default now to 1MB which should
be safe for all HDDs but not necessarily the best choice for flash
storage because of erase blocks etc.) Unfortunately the exact perfect
alignment depends on the specific device you're using so there is no
catch-all solution. There are tools like flashbench will will try to
reveal the optimal settings via destructive tests.