Linux

Testing usb flash drive speeds in linux

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I’m pondering a project which will need a reasonably fast write usb flash drive so I decided to root around in drawers behind cupbaords and under sofas to find some to test.

All are formatted as FAT32 and tested on my Debian linux box.

read test conducted using dd if=/dev/sde of=/dev/null bs=10000 count=10000
write test conducted using dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sde bs=1M count=100

Sandisk cruzer slice 8GB
http://www.sandisk.co.uk/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-cruzer-slice
r 100 MB copied, 6.01249 s, 16.6 MB/s
w 105 MB copied, 28.5709 s, 3.7 MB/s

integral Courier 4GB
http://www.integralmemory.com/product/courier-usb-flash-drive
r 100 MB copied, 6.60859 s, 15.1 MB/s
w 105 MB copied, 23.9367 s, 4.4 MB/s

Sony Microvault 4GB
http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/USM4GL/specifications
r 100 MB copied, 5.85735 s, 17.1 MB/s
w 105 MB copied, 11.8885 s, 8.8 MB/s

Integral AG47 4GB
http://www.integralmemory.com/product/ag47-usb-flash-drive
r 100 MB copied, 5.53511 s, 18.1 MB/s
w 105 MB copied, 13.9816 s, 7.5 MB/s

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On The Move

Open Pandora

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Just stumbled across a new handheld device running linux descibed by the
creator as ‘A mixture between a PC and a gaming console. That’s why it has
gaming controls (Buttons, DPad and analogue nubs).’

Slightly bigger than a Nintendo DS it’s fast enough to emulate many other
systems, run a full desktop, access the internet via FireFox and play
games such as Quake3. Boasting an 800*480 screen and a claimed battery
life of 10 hours plus.

All sound good? you bet ya, the downside? there’s got to be one hasn’t
there and with this it seems to be the price costing a whopping 440 euros
for it’s entry level 430-MHz system. To me that seems steep by anyones
standards especially when I netbook or laptop can be picked up for around
the same price.

Read all about it here http://openpandora.org

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Techy

Time for a new NAS

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I’m currently paying for 50gb of remote storage but the trouble is I need to backup too much data offsite ie in excess of 500gb to make this facility financially viable. I’ve been searching for a suitable box that I can place at a friends house so I can backup my files to there. I have 2 spare 500gb sata drives so looked at NAS enclosures, I drilled it down to a D-Link DNS-323 and a Thecus 2100 both of which have low operating costs in terms of power consumption something which is important as my friend is hosting it for free. After spending some time looking at specs I’ve decided on the Thecus. It has a faster CPU 600mhz, upgradable memory, 3 USB ports and 2 gigabit network ports. The plan is to run Debian 6.0 on it.

I’m currently watching 2 on fleabay so will hopefully nab one of those.

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