Optimizing Linux Use On a USB Flash Drive?

Buckbeak writes "I like to carry my Linux systems around with me, on USB flash drives. Typically, SanDisk Cruzers or Kingston HyperX. I encrypt the root partition and boot off the USB stick. Sometimes, the performance leaves something to be desired. I want to be able to do an 'apt-get upgrade' or 'yum update' while surfing but the experience is sometimes painful. What can I do to maximize the performance of Linux while running off of a slow medium? I've turned on 'noatime' in the mount options and I don't use a swap partition. Is there any way to minimize drive I/O or batch it up more? Is there any easy way to run in memory and write everything out when I shut down? I've tried both EXT2 and EXT3 and it doesn't seem to make much difference. Any other suggestions?"

Comments

Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you tried squashfs?

Having everything compressed seriously reliefs the drive I/O. It also helps you to put more onto your Stick. Changes could be written to an normal ext3 filesystem with the help of aufs.

No swap and use a ram disk

[blackjackshellac]

Do not swap onto your USB drive, that is a very bad idea and will lead to horrific performance, and a failed USB key. Second, setup a ram disk on boot and put /var there so that all logging goes to ram disk. Most USB keys will fail otherwise because they are not designed for repetitive write cycles.