G+_Jason Perry Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 I think this is going to be a future project. Just don't think I like the USB sticking out the back with the OS on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Haven't watched the video yet, but I've seen some mount the USB drive inside by coming off the USB header. Another option would be a compact thumb drive that won't stick out very far. SanDisk Ultra Fit 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LLEN5FQ/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 Ben Reese?, when I get around to this I think i am just going to opt for a 12GB SSD. Are there any benefits to using a USB? Other than cost savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Never built one myself. Probably cost is the only thing. Might be able to get a better quality USB drive for the price than SSD? Also, I think most of these appliance-type OSs (pfSense, freenas, etc) usually load from the drive on boot only and run in RAM the rest of the time. I could be wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted August 11, 2016 Author Share Posted August 11, 2016 If memory serves me right they do run off RAM. Just noticed I forgot a 0 in my post, lol. I might feel comfortable if the USB key was kept internally. Just don't know how it would preform over time if I decided to play with cashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Wiggins Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 pfSense loads in RAM. However, in the non embedded version, RRD data and graphs can do a lot of reads and writes. I'd consider it a waste of an SSD. Also, embedded version works bed on CF. USB works, but isn't as stable. I'm running on an old win XP media center edition box from HP as my pfs server. Mechanical drives are fine unless instant boot is a must. I'd use a laptop drive fit that form factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Stede Bonnett Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 If you use caching or even IDS/IPS features you will hit the disk a lot more. When I built mine I needed a 2.5" drive for the enclosure I went with. The cheapest (new) 2.5" HDD's I found were in the $30-$40 range for a few hundred GB's. 2.5" SATA SSD's we're available as well with 30-40GB which was plenty for my use. Saving some moving parts is always a plus. In that price range today you can get major brand drives around 100GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts