Author Topic: SSD Is it worth the money?  (Read 5743 times)

heinola

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SSD Is it worth the money?
« on: August 20, 2011, 04:51:23 pm »
Looking at a 32GB ssd SATA 2 drive for the new core's operating drive... currenty have std sata2 500gb

Most of my media is on NAS drives
questions:

  • Will it be big enough for the install?
  • Any true speed difference -vs- hdd?

purps

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2011, 10:15:17 pm »
This is my "80" GB OS hard drive...

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
rootfs                 71G   32G   36G  47% /

So as you can see, 32 GB might be cutting it a bit fine. 5 MDs currently, no media.

Can't really comment on whether they are a good idea or no, although personally I wouldn't bother because of the price alone.

Cheers,
Matt.
1004 RC :: looking good :: upgraded 01/04/2013
my setup :: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Purps

kyfalcon

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2011, 04:21:00 pm »
I've run 10.04 on a 16gb usb thumb drive. Can't see 8.04 taking up more than that.

daci92

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2011, 04:57:14 pm »
I've run 10.04 on a 16gb usb thumb drive. Can't see 8.04 taking up more than that.
0810
1 netboot MD 3 orbiters 15.6GB with no media on the drive

kyfalcon

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2011, 09:25:10 pm »
0810
1 netboot MD 3 orbiters 15.6GB with no media on the drive

I meant 0810 :) and I also had 3 orbiters

Sigg3.net

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2011, 10:37:57 pm »
I have used both Ubuntu and slackware-based distros on SSDs and have not recognized any discernible difference in speed. Please note that this was on a laptop (T61) that may not utilize SSD correctly (though installation and use worked).

The Velociraptor 10K rpm disks are still faster than most SSDs, but are pretty expensive and very noisy. If your core/hybrid must be quiet, I'd go for SSD. If not, you might save cash on HDDs.

trentend

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2011, 12:02:00 am »
My thoughts on ssd are to run the core on one, and then run a media director, with digital tv/satellite tuners, and a big lump of traditional media storage.  This way the core and basic functionality (alarm, lighting, etc.) runs on low power/heat (and ups backed up), and when it needs to deliver media it turns on the tuners and media storage through the first MD.

I don't know how easy/viable this is.....I'm experimenting.

purps

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2011, 04:27:55 pm »
I've run 10.04 on a 16gb usb thumb drive. Can't see 8.04 taking up more than that.

Well I'm not lying, my system is ~32 GB at the moment as can be seen.

I have x4 web orbiters and x1 N800, not sure if it's that taking up the space.

Cheers,
Matt.
1004 RC :: looking good :: upgraded 01/04/2013
my setup :: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Purps

klovell

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #8 on: August 25, 2011, 06:40:22 pm »
Here's the deal.. you may not realize it but at the end of the day your core is a server.  The intention should be for this device to just sit there 24/7/365 with no direct interaction unless necessary (ex. making a repair).  Two of the top ten absolute worst mistakes you can make while building a server is to under spec the system and go cheap on hardware.  16 GB is ridiculously low and I wouldn't recommend that even for a hybrid with no md's and external storage.  Eventually you're going to eat up that space then you have to worry about imaging your system onto a new drive.  Just do it right the first time.  You may need to turn on extensive logging at some point to pin point an issue, are you going to have the space?  Besides, thumb drives are extremely limited on writes.  How long will it be until you have to replace that thumb drive?  I personally wouldn't go any less than 60GB with external media storage.

I understand not everyone is made of money, and I am by no means made of money, but you get what you pay for.  Statistically, you have a lower chance of failure using ssd vs a conventional HD.  IMO since you're most likely not using server grade hard drives, you're core or hybrid is not in a temp and humidity controlled room, you don't have systems in place to control dust and other environmental influences, and your core will be powered off and on due to power failures and maintenance, a ssd will definitely out last a conventional HD. If you're intentions are to one day have a core that you're not rebuilding every other month, it would be a good idea to invest in the SSD or a decent raid setup (preferably hardware raid).

To the OP, I've already said this in another post but I don't mind saying it again.  I saw an increase in performance when I switched to a SSD.  My boot times and regen times dropped after I switched.   I use SSD in all my home servers but one and I will replace them all with a hardware raid if I had the cash.  IMO it's totally worth it, especially since you can get a SSD now for around $100.  Look at it this way, even if it's not much faster with LMCE it should be much more reliable than a conventional drive.  IMO that alone makes it worth it.   

kyfalcon

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Re: SSD Is it worth the money?
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2011, 09:50:55 pm »
Sorry if I was misunderstood. I was just posting that it is possible. I use my thumb drive to load 10.04 and do some development when I have the time (3 week old and 16 month old have a big say in that time ;} ). So I was just saying it could be done. I wouldn't think about running my permanent core from the thumb drive.