Arch Linux

Lowra

Member

Registered: 2009-09-21

Posts: 192

Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Good morning,

For some practical reasons, I would like to install ArchLinux on a removable device. I'm not planning to use it on a daily basis, but more like once a week.
For that purpose, I was wondering what will be the best solution: using a USB Stick, or an SD Card?

I don't know what will be the best about:
- The device lifetime (with all these  read/ write access to the usb stick/sd card)
- The speed while reading/writing data to the usb stick/sd card
- Will it be easier to make it work with a usb stick than with sd card ? The opposite ?
- The price that will cost me

Do you have any thought about that choice ?

Thanks

Rupp

Member

Registered: 2010-02-14

Posts: 47

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

I haven't had much experience with running a distro on either. Had Puppy Linux on my SD card for about a week one time, but booted into it, I think three times. Outside of that, I've personally have had multiple usb sticks fail on me, but have yet to have the SD card fail. Others may share the opposite opinion. Just giving you my thoughts.

JackH79

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2009-06-18

Posts: 663

Website

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Device lifetime is not really that big an issue any more, so i wouldn't worry about that, especially as you're not going to use on a daily basis.
Speed: if you want speed, go for USB3. Compatibility is of course an issue (meaning: not many computer have USB3 ports yet).
Installation should be the same for either one as both are SSDs.

In the end I'd go for a USB stick, simply for reasons of practicality. With an SD card, you'll need an SD card reader as well. One more thing to lose when you're on the move. On the other hand, a USB has more components built in that can break. :-)

Mr.Elendig

#archlinux@freenode channel op

From: The intertubes

Registered: 2004-11-07

Posts: 4,092

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Actually device lifetime is a big issue, some usb sticks will die after just a week or two if you do a "normal" install to them.

I would recomend using larch or similar to minimise the writes.

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Lowra

Member

Registered: 2009-09-21

Posts: 192

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Actually device lifetime is a big issue, some usb sticks will die after just a week or two if you do a "normal" install to them.

I would recomend using larch or similar to minimise the writes.

What uses that much the device ? Reading from it ? Writing data to it ? What kind of data, log but not only ? Using ext2 or similar isn't a complete solution ?

Thanks

skunktrader

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2010-02-14

Posts: 1,543

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Flash memory has a limited number of write cycles before it fails.  Anything you can do to reduce the number of writes will make your usb stick last longer

JackH79

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2009-06-18

Posts: 663

Website

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Well, a typical USB or SSD that you buy in the shop today has (on average) about a 100,000 write cycles per block. That should be enough for even a normal install. Of course it might be prudent to a) check the manufacturers specs and b) follow the guidelines on how to install on SSDs. OP said he would use it only occasionally so I figured that he shouldn't worry about it too much.  If he is worried about it (well, he asked about it), he can just follow the wiki or use larch, as mentioned by Mr.Elendig. We're talking USB stick not a server.

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,772

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Well, a typical USB or SSD that you buy in the shop today has (on average) about a 100,000 write cycles per block. ..

And most of them have load leveling.  When the controller notices a block accumulating a relatively large number writes, it will swap that block with a block that that has a relatively low number of write cycles.  It does this in a manner that is invisible to the host -- the external API is not affected, just the mapping internal to the device.

---

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Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

Lowra

Member

Registered: 2009-09-21

Posts: 192

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

Thank you everyone

I am now planning to buy this 4GB OCZ usb stick which cost less than 10€ in my country and which has a lifetime warranty

I checked the SSD page of the wiki, and I think that I will at least:
Use the noatime mount flag
Put /tmp in RAM

One last thing: If you were me, would you use ext4 ? ext2 ? Or even another filesystem ?

hongy19

Member

From: China

Registered: 2005-04-08

Posts: 83

Website

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

please dont' forget to put browser's cache into /tmp.

Actually i use the a usb-stick Arch daily for more than two month.  Until now, everything is OK

Thank you everyone

I am now planning to buy this 4GB OCZ usb stick which cost less than 10€ in my country and which has a lifetime warranty

I checked the SSD page of the wiki, and I think that I will at least:
Use the noatime mount flag
Put /tmp in RAM

One last thing: If you were me, would you use ext4 ? ext2 ? Or even another filesystem ?

Lowra

Member

Registered: 2009-09-21

Posts: 192

Re: Install on a USB Stick versus SD Card ?

@hongy19: I met a problem when trying to install Arch on my usb stick. Could you take a look on my topic and tell me if I am doing something wrong ?

Thanks