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Thanks much Greg for much valuable information as I profess little
more than an ability to locate the return key :-)<br>
<br>
C.Thomas <br>
<br>
On 10/24/2011 1:21 PM, Greg Clifton wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJKW_Y52mOEi2p6GVUT-PdsGvFg318_NfjtT4MxKRY-AiLx_-A@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Courtney,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regarding booting from CD (live CD) forgetaboutit. As
previously mentioned, it will be slow to boot and execute and
you will have no swap or permanent storage (no suspend to disc).
Further, a lost, broken or scratched disc would stop you dead.
Much better to run from tumb drive or external 2.5" drive if you
prefer. Depending on the age your notebook it should have USB
2.0 but if older, my be USB 1.0. If you have USB 1.0, little
will be gained by either a SSD or the Seagate Hybrid drive
previously mentioned because you will be I/O bound by the
bottleneck of the 1.0 USB bandwidth. Even with USB 2.0, I'm not
sure you would gain much from a SSD over USB. You can buy nice
500GB to 1TB external 2.5" drives for $100 or less these days
and that will give you plenty of room to play with various
distros, etc. Furthermore, 2.5" drives are inherently more
robust than 3.5" drives (smaller platters flutter less). If you
should choose the route of "rolling your own" with an enclosure
which you install your own drive into, get one of the G-Shock
type drives so that it will auto park if the drive happens to
get knocked off the desktop while in operation. You might recall
that IBM had a great commercial touting that technology a few
years ago before they sold their notebook business to Lenovo.<br>
Regards,</div>
<div>Greg Clifton<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:44 AM,
Courtney Thomas <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:courtneycthomas@bellsouth.net">courtneycthomas@bellsouth.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">Ron,<br>
<br>
Thanks for the extensive replies.<br>
<br>
What would be the downside of using live CDs for various
OSes and an<br>
external HD for data ?<br>
<br>
Appreciatively,<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Courtney<br>
</font>
<div>
<div class="h5"><br>
On 10/24/2011 10:53 AM, Ron Frazier wrote:<br>
> Courtney,<br>
><br>
> Here's my opinion of the pros and cons of HDD
versus Flash (memory<br>
> stick). I don't know anything about (old style)
ZIP drives, but I think<br>
> they're pretty much obsolete. I'm not sure if
that's what you meant.<br>
><br>
> HDD Pros:<br>
><br>
> lots of storage<br>
> cheap price<br>
> could possibly convert to using the
drive internally in the<br>
> laptop<br>
> could use the drive later to backup
your PC<br>
> more likely to be able to dual boot /
multi boot<br>
><br>
> HDD Cons:<br>
><br>
> subject to mechanical damage (don't
smack or drop it)<br>
> usually requires 2 USB ports<br>
> heavier<br>
> more bulky<br>
> requires more power (reduces battery
run time)<br>
> slower (caveat - as mentioned in my
other post, the USB speed<br>
> may be the limiting factor)<br>
><br>
> Flash (memory stick) Pros:<br>
><br>
> small<br>
> light<br>
> requires only one USB port<br>
> draws less power (increases battery run
time)<br>
> does not require an enclosure<br>
> faster (subject to limits of USB speed)<br>
><br>
> Flash (memory stick) Cons:<br>
><br>
> less storage space<br>
> more money per GB<br>
> harder to dual boot / multi boot
(because of smaller storage<br>
> capacity)<br>
> easier to lose or misplace<br>
> long term longevity is questionable (in
my opinion)<br>
> subject to electronic damage (static)<br>
> (Have you ever walked across a
carpet in the winter,<br>
> touched a doorknob, and gotten a spark on your
finger?)<br>
> (If you ever do something that
sparks to the memory<br>
> stick, even if you don't know it, it will probably
destroy it.)<br>
> (I would say the memory stick is
less likely to incur<br>
> damage while traveling than the HDD.)<br>
><br>
><br>
> Regarding CD's, if you install your OS to the
external HDD, you can boot<br>
> directly from it if your PC has the capability to
boot from USB. You<br>
> don't need a CD. Also, another option is to put
multiple operating<br>
> systems on your internal HDD. This is what I do.
All my PC's can dual<br>
> boot between Linux and Windows. You could
potentially boot between<br>
> multiple versions of Linux as well.<br>
><br>
> Sincerely,<br>
><br>
> Ron<br>
><br>
><br>
> On 10/24/2011 3:40 AM, Courtney Thomas wrote:<br>
>> Ron,<br>
>><br>
>> Thank you for all the important concerns
unconsidered by me at this<br>
>> point, but it sounds like... I might be better
advised to use live CD<br>
>> distros with a portable HD (rather than zip
drives) for reliability and<br>
>> space.<br>
>><br>
>> If true, what am I giving up if going that
route ? Speed ?<br>
>><br>
>> Gratefully,<br>
>><br>
>> Courtney<br>
>><br>
>> On 10/23/2011 12:37 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> Courtney,<br>
>>><br>
>>> What I'm discussing relates to using a
memory stick for your purpose.<br>
>>> Most of it won't apply if using a HDD for
storage. I will freely admit<br>
>>> to not being an expert in booting from a
flash memory stick. However,<br>
>>> here are some things to think about. You
probably want a high speed<br>
>>> memory stick. They have different class
numbers. Higher is better, and<br>
>>> they don't always say on the label. I
don't have the numbers<br>
>>> memorized. Get something of high quality.
Pony up a few extra dollars<br>
>>> for something with a 5 year warranty,
rather than a 1 year. (That would<br>
>>> apply to a HDD too.) The device should
have built in wear leveling, and<br>
>>> should have SLC memory circuits which have
greater longevity. This is<br>
>>> also not usually on the label. Flash
memory cells can only be written a<br>
>>> certain number of times before they
degrade. When I was teaching at a<br>
>>> technical college, I always told the
students not to rely on a memory<br>
>>> stick for permanent storage. They can
flake out sometimes. The other<br>
>>> thread I had posted about my relative
wanting to recover photos is an<br>
>>> example. Obviously, storing an OS on the
thing is a more permanent<br>
>>> application, and you don't want any bits
suddenly going missing. I<br>
>>> would back up the entire memory stick from
one to another periodically,<br>
>>> which would get the OS as well as all your
data. (This also would apply<br>
>>> to a HDD.)<br>
>>><br>
>>> Here are a few items the Linux gurus here
(I'm not one) may wish to<br>
>>> address. You may not want a swap partition
or file, since a swap area<br>
>>> will pound the memory stick very hard if
the system get's low on<br>
>>> resources. There are pros and cons either
way. Without swap, if you<br>
>>> boot a PC with low RAM, and run too many
things, the OS may crash.<br>
>>> Also, you may wish to disable write caching
to reduce the likelihood of<br>
>>> damaging the OS if the memory stick is
removed without safely ejecting<br>
>>> it. The USB port may automatically disable
write caching, I don't know<br>
>>> about that.<br>
>>><br>
>>> In the past, I've heard of people running
Linux on a memory stick and<br>
>>> burning out the stick within a few months.
That was a while back, so<br>
>>> I'm not sure how the modern technology
affects these issues. Makers of<br>
>>> memory sticks, and SSD's, now say cell wear
is not a problem. That may<br>
>>> or may not be true, but I'm not totally
convinced. While I would like<br>
>>> to have an SSD, I'm not yet convinced that
they can last 5 - 15 years,<br>
>>> the way a properly maintained and not
mechanically damaged HDD can.<br>
>>><br>
>>> Sincerely,<br>
>>><br>
>>> Ron<br>
>>><br>
>>> On 10/23/2011 11:42 AM, D. Marshall Lemcoe
Jr. wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>>> There are some very fine 32GB and 64GB
in the sub-$100 price range and<br>
>>>> anything will suit a live-key. if
you're going to be traveling, the<br>
>>>> USB flash drive will be your better bet
because there is no chance of<br>
>>>> it breaking like a regular HDD might.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> As for the distribution, I would
recommend something that doesn't take<br>
>>>> a lot of setup and configuration to
use, like Ubuntu or Fedora.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> On Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 10:17 AM, Jim
Kinney<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:jim.kinney@gmail.com">jim.kinney@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
>>>><br>
>>>><br>
>>>>> With the cost of removable media
what it is, it's feasable to have several<br>
>>>>> distros on a 250GB drive all
sharing a /home and selectable at boot from<br>
>>>>> grub.<br>
>>>>> Or carry a selection of live CD/DVD
media and a thumb drive for storage.<br>
>>>>> This is easier unless the laptop
has no cd drive. Older laptops may not be<br>
>>>>> able to boot from usb.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> On Oct 23, 2011 9:41 AM, "Richard
Faulkner"<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:rfaulkner@34thprs.org">rfaulkner@34thprs.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>>> What is the most important
feature of the OS? Security? Media support?<br>
>>>>>> Something basic or something
w/everything not nailed down?<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----<br>
>>>>>> From: Richard
Bronosky<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Richard@Bronosky.com"><Richard@Bronosky.com></a><br>
>>>>>> Reply-to: Atlanta Linux
Enthusiasts<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>><br>
>>>>>> To: Atlanta Linux
Enthusiasts<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>><br>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [ale] Linux
alternative recommendation ?<br>
>>>>>> Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:02:53
-0400<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> How much storage do you need?
Could a flash drive work? 32G or 64G?<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> On Oct 23, 2011 8:27 AM,
"Courtney Thomas"<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:courtneycthomas@bellsouth.net">courtneycthomas@bellsouth.net</a>><br>
>>>>>> wrote:<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> I'd like to carry a portable
Linux USB HD installation for traveling<br>
>>>>>> with my laptop and would
appreciate suggestions, not only for which<br>
>>>>>> Linux flavor but also which
drive.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> Thanks,<br>
>>>>>> C.Thomas<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>><br>
><br>
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