Using USB Memory Stick to Improve Performance

[Derek Broughton]

David Fox wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Siggy Brentrup<ubuntu at psycho.i21k.de>
> wrote:
> 
> I'm sceptical of using a USB stick for the purpose you describe.
> (There was another thread that was related to this, which I almost
> commented on: using a usb stick in an elaborate "cache" setup,
> presumably because USB was faster.)

The threads I recall were different because they focused, as you say, on 
"cache" - read/write applications.  Siggy wants to put read-only data there.  
Not such a bad idea, on the whole.

> While USB sticks have no moving
> parts, I'm pretty sure that disk accesses (reads) are slower than
> using the internal HD.drive.

_Transfer_ rates are certainly faster, because you can't reach the same 
speeds over USB.  Access speeds could be comparable.  _Seek_ times will be 
much slower on disk.

-- 
derek