On 2/12/07, Chuck Cole <cncole at earthlink.net> wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org > > [mailto:tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of Jonathon Jongsma > > Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 10:27 AM > > To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > Subject: Re: [tclug-list] move swap file to a USB drive > > > > > > On 2/12/07, Chad Walstrom <chewie at wookimus.net> wrote: > > > On Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 08:16:22PM -0600, Chuck Cole wrote: > > > > Regardless of the other issues, flash RAM has a limited read/write > > > > lifetime unlike "regular" RAM or a hard disk. > > > > > > And this, folks is why you don't use flash-based storage for > > > read-write intensive operations, such as swap. Just don't do it. > > > > Note that this flash-drive-as-swap is supposedly one of the new > > features of Windows Vista. This is from the FAQ [1]: > > Q: Won't this wear out the drive? > > A: Nope. We're aware of the lifecycle issues with flash drives and are > > smart about how and when we do our writes to the device. Our research > > shows that we will get at least 10+ years out of flash devices that we > > support. > > > > I have no idea how long a device would last with a similar > > setup under linux... > > > > [1] http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/06/02/615199.aspx > > -- > > jonner > > > > OH.. we must believe Microsoft! They are omniscient and never make > mistakes or have vulnerabilities, right? > > This is at most "if our software does this, then spec sheet info says > the flash will do that.. statistically. Statistics also say that some > will die much sooner. What might would one lose or trash when swap is > lost or hiccups during transactions? > > Neat new game to play, right? How is this different than any other lifespan specification? I was just pointing out what microsoft had to say on the matter since this is an advertised feature of their new operating system. I wasn't necessarily endorsing the idea of using flash as swap or treating microsoft as an infallible source. I was simply adding one more data point to the discussion since it seemed relevant. You're free to ignore it if you wish. -- jonner