USB Storage Device for running Arch on PogoPlug B0x?

[TheJayOJ]

Hey guys! A few Questions.


1. What is the minimum storage space required for a base installation of Arch Linux ARM? I know it depends on the packages I choose, but I had a couple of 64, 256, 512 MB flash drives that haven't seen any use for long and would like to repurpose if possible. I will most probably be using the Plug as file server, print server, download box, and maybe dlna server.


2. What kind of storage device would you recommend for it? The spare flash drives I have, even the 2, 4, 8 GB ones, are pretty slow with about 3-4 MB/s sequential write and 5-10 MB/s seq read speeds.

I do have an unused 320 gig USB 2.0 external HDD that I plan to use with the Plug (I'll be using it as a simple file/media/download server afterall). Would that be better suited for running Arch? I mean it probably would, but are there any significant performance penalties running Arch from a slower flash drive?

I will want the Plug to download stuff to the external HDD and connect the HDD once in a while to one of my computers and copy stuff (we are making do with a slow and flaky WiFi G based router for now, not good for file transfers or streaming at all).


3. Do you guys recommend creating a swap partition for the Plug? If so, how large?


4. I think I read somewhere around here that because of the way these Plugs boot, connecting two USB storage devices might not be a good idea because the Plug may get confused which one to load the OS from. Any light on this matter?

[WarheadsSE]

I would suggest spinning rust, over flash, period. Especially if you are going to use swap file.

512M is generally a more-than-anyone-normally-actually-needs scenario, and for my non build-plugs I tend to keep it to 256M. A rootfs that will be used on a file service & downloading box would best be at least 2GB. Also, there are issues with multiple USB drives at boot.

[TheJayOJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WarheadsSE', 'I') would suggest spinning rust, over flash, period. Especially if you are going to use swap file.

512M is generally a more-than-anyone-normally-actually-needs scenario, and for my non build-plugs I tend to keep it to 256M. A rootfs that will be used on a file service & downloading box would best be at least 2GB. Also, there are issues with multiple USB drives at boot.

[TheJayOJ]

BTW I'm receiving my Plug tomorrow. Took a while, but I hope to have a lot of fun tinkering with it. This is probably going to be the most nerdy thing I've ever dared. Baby steps.

[WarheadsSE]

1) swap
2) swap
3) swap
If you're going to use swap, do not put it on flash. It will eat your flash for breakfast.

If you're going to be constantly plugging & removing the drive, I hope it won't be NTFS. Performance is abysmal on NTFS.

You can squeeze safely into 2GB, but I warn you: the result of an over-filled drive because you didn't keep the cache's cleaned, or did something to cause the drive to fill (mis-configured destinations etc), you're going to end up restarting from scratch.

[TheJayOJ]

How about I leave swap out of the equation? Is 128 MB RAM going to be a real bottleneck for those purposes?

[WarheadsSE]

Yes, you can not use swap, I cannot speak to your use case however, until you personally do it, we won't know your pressures. I have many devices with no swap 90% of the time.