Laptops w/ small SSD & slow mechanical...leverage in linux too?

Bster13 · 03-09-2013, 04:27 PM

Hello,

I've converted my Pentium D desktop to a NAS4Free box and now I'd like to purchase a laptop.

I keep seeing laptops models with a small integrated SSD and then a large 5400 RPD drive. I assume the laptop (Windows? Bios?) leverages both these drives to provide decent performance but keep costs down.

I'm wondering if this feature can be taken advantage of in Ubuntu/Linux Mint as well?

Many thanks....I apologize in advance for my lack of technical understanding.

jefro · 03-09-2013, 04:48 PM

Don't confuse portability with speed. I doubt any cheap laptop would be made for any kind of speed. The whole product is more to save energy, be somewhat sturdy and to be cheap. If you want a fast laptop, you will have to pay for it.

Bster13 · 03-09-2013, 05:02 PM

It's all relative. VS a laptop with just a 5400RPM drive, I assume the SSD/mechanical setup would be faster, and while I didn't think of it, sure, consume less power. I'm just wondering if this non-traditional drive setup will have any trouble in Linux?

Bster13 · 03-09-2013, 05:17 PM

Ok, it's w/ the chipset and motherboard, nothing to worry about with the OS me thinks:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/art...D-Caching-148/

onebuck · 03-10-2013, 09:27 AM

Hi,

You can look at: Hard Drive Caching with SSDs

Quote:

Caching is a concept used through computing. CPUs have several levels of cache; disk drives have cache; and the list goes on. Adding a small amount of high-speed data storage relative to a large amount of slower-speed storage can make huge improvements to performance. Enter two new kernel patches -- bcache and flashcache -- that leverage the power of SSDs.