SSD difference with Linux?

[GreenAce92]

Is the solid state drive technology any different from the rotating disk technology (SATA) which would affect installation of Linux? Do I have to do any settings?

I'm considering buying an SSD because my 7200 rpm SATA 2 drive is hot, as in making my palms sweat.

I'm wondering if I should skip the trial and error phase of testing 3400 rpm vs 5400 rpm vs 7200 rpm and just go directly to SSD.

Also curious about the cables... My current hard drive is a SATA-II so I can't assume that I can somehow connect SATA-III right? This is a completely different technology? So I would be limited to 3GB/s SSD's? Which is not a problem this is mostly a web developing / minor programming computer, nothing too intensive.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[ofb]

We're past the point where you have to do anything special for SSD.

However not everyone believes that, so don't surprised to see this thread expand.

I'm wondering if I should skip the trial and error phase of testing 3400 rpm vs 5400 rpm vs 7200 rpm and just go directly to SSD.

Yeah. Dang they're fast.

If you were asking about a desktop and heat was not an issue, then the argument for HDD is their enormous size for modest cost.

[GreenAce92]

It's for a laptop, the problem being that the design of the Compaq CQ60 615DX places the very hot 7200 rpm SATA-II hard drive under your left palm (left of the mouse pad) so my palms are sweating from this heat... I think the drive is hotter than any part of the computer. That is my specific application / purpose / hope for the SSD. I don't really need too much space, this drive I am using now is 250 GB and I am using a 100gb partition for the linux, the rest is for swap/spare space.

Thank you for your response.
So happy for the internet right now haha.

I'm looking at this drive, this is safe to use right? As in plug and play and I'm good?

Not sure if it is 7pin, weird that they say that, that seems to be the power input not the signal, the signal is the one with more than 7 (at least double) pins right?

Holy crap the range is up to 70C? Why?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

to replace this drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145436

[ofb]

I'm looking at this drive, this is safe to use right? As in plug and play and I'm good?

I would think so, but have not actually done this swap. I've only used SSD that were pre-installed. So wait for other posts or search online.

Consult your manual of course, since laptops can be 'special' about getting inside. Also look into getting your BIOS updated to the latest version. There might be improvements for dealing with the relatively new SSD.

Holy crap the range is up to 70C? Why?

That's the range it's okay to operate in, not the range it produces. Like think if it's installed above or between HDD.

[GreenAce92]

Thanks for the word of caution. Perhaps my computer is outdated to not be compatible with SSD? Will have to look this up.

Quick search says it is compatible.

Have not done a bios update yet... will need to look into that as well.

I can access the inside of the laptop just fine if that is what you were referring to.

Thanks for your input

[z31fanatic]

The SSD you are looking at is a Sata 3 and your laptop is Sata 2. It will work no problem except that you will be limited to Sata 2 speeds which are half of Sata 3.
I expect speeds of that Sandisk SSD to be round 200 mbps read and write which is still far better than a spinning drive.

If you are already using 100GB now plus swap space, you'll be cutting it very close with a 120GB drive. It is recommended that you have at least 10% free space in your drive.
I'd spring for a 250GB model.

Here is one for $79 from Best Buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-cs1100- ... Id=3935046

[Pjotr]

I advise to apply these tweaks for optimizing your SSD in Linux:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd

SSD's are very fast. Have fun!

[ganamant]

SSDs are fast, but they are also more prone to wear and they can only take so many wrtite cycles before they fail. Magnetic drives can usually be written upon many more times (orders of magnitude) and still run perfect (but they can will fail too, in the end, so let's not forget to back up our stuff). They are also less expensive per gigabyte.

To get the best of two worlds, I would dedicate the SSD to static files, e.g. partitions mounted as /usr, /boot, /etc and go magnetic for /home, /var, /tmp and the swap space. I would also use a non-journalling filesystem for my SSD.

[niowluka]

Is the solid state drive technology any different from the rotating disk technology (SATA) which would affect installation of Linux? Do I have to do any settings?

No and no. And unless you are planning to use it for decades to come, you don't have to worry about wear either.

Due to very fast read speeds of SSDs, boot times are reduced and applications load faster, it is a very noticeable difference. I would suggest to keep entire system on SSD, as even moving /home off onto HDD, takes away some of those benefits.

[GreenAce92]

Do you guys think that SSD's will make hard disk drives obsolete? I realize it will probably take a lot of time to get to that point.

[ofb]

Some time in the last couple of weeks a Register article pointed out how the cost building new fabs would keep SSD from completely replacing HDD.

The Reg is a news rag for the IT and Server crowd, so they mean everywhere that HDD are used, not just personal computers.

For personal computers... well as much as I prefer and love them, the Desktop is going to become increasingly unusual. People are going to have their mobile, and it'll operate with whatever displays and devices are handy. In that scenario, yeah, most people will not have HDD anymore. And it's not too far off.*

*My sense of time is more like decades than years. I got my first computer in 78. So... let's say five years HDD will be getting rare. And sometime not far after that they'll be the sort of thing you'd have to special order, rather than find in a store locally.

[KaneS]

I advise to apply these tweaks for optimizing your SSD in Linux:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd

SSD's are very fast. Have fun!

I did pretty much everything on that page that was suggested for the SSD, no issues, runs extremely fast, very happy

[mintybits]

I advise to apply these tweaks for optimizing your SSD in Linux:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd

SSD's are very fast. Have fun!

I find a perfectly adequate set up is just adding relatime and discard mount options in /etc/fstab. In practice this is all you need as far as I know.

I just mention this for people who may find that guide onerous.

[niowluka]

I find a perfectly adequate set up is just adding relatime and discard mount options in /etc/fstab. In practice this is all you need as far as I know.

I just mention this for people who may find that guide onerous.

I'm with you on that one. In fact, I don't add discard either as Mint by default has weekly trim job scheduled. And noatime/relatime are actually recommended regardless of whether it's HDD or SSD, so in the end there is nothing to do specifically for SSD install.