Linux O.S. on SSD?

carlosinfl · 10-13-2011, 02:29 PM

I'm looking into picking up some new 100 GB SSD SATA drives and my question is I'm concerned how Linux handles SSD drives versus spindle drives. Does Linux support TRIM or some equivalent garbage collection mechanism?

corp769 · 10-13-2011, 02:33 PM

Hello,

TRIM has been supported since the 2.6.33 kernel, but it is not automatically configured for use. You will have to manually edit your fstab and add "discard" in order to get in working for your SSD.

Cheers,

Josh

TobiSGD · 10-13-2011, 02:33 PM

Yes, it does. Runs fine here with Slackware 13.37.

corp769 · 10-13-2011, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Yes, it does. Runs fine here with Slackware 13.37.

So is "discard" enabled by default now? Last time I checked, it wasn't, unless you are running something different.

carlosinfl · 10-13-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corp769

So is "discard" enabled by default now? Last time I checked, it wasn't, unless you are running something different.

Interesting...I would like to know if I need to enable this or if it's just automatic in the kernel...

TobiSGD · 10-13-2011, 02:48 PM

@corp769:
No, you have to enable it manually. I haven't seen your post and was answering to the OP. Posted at the same time, it seems.

sycamorex · 10-13-2011, 02:54 PM

Edit: it is supported with ext4

TobiSGD · 10-13-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

Edit: it is supported with ext4

You are right, I forgot to mention that, if you want TRIM support you either have to use ext4 with the discard option or btrfs with the ssd option.
I am not sure if btrfs is production ready, so I decided to go for ext4.

jefro · 10-13-2011, 08:02 PM

I know I have seen pages like this for a while. http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7345/ Not sure how it really is in real life.

onebuck · 10-14-2011, 08:50 AM

Hi,

I like Jeffery B. Layton's series: SandForce 1222 SSD Testing Part 1: Initial Throughput Results through Part 5. Loads of good reference and information!

Storage Highlights in 2.6.38 is another good read.