USB to mSATA boot drive?

[Quinnx]

Please feel to flame, first post and all.

Just wondering if anyone has tried one of these devices to use as an boot device?

http://m.gearbest.com/development-b...plhctZM9L6DVeNt6I5guxEeggDH-G_05YsaAjw18P8HAQ

See I have a msata drive and I was wondering if it was possible to boot from this and use the USB port & save me a sata port in the process.

Many thanks!

P.s. I did search already but didn't find anything.

 

[m0nkey_]

Support for USB 3 devices in FreeNAS is somewhat limited. And I wouldn't trust a device that costs less than 6 packs of Jaffa Cakes with a mSATA SSD drive. Just get yourself a couple of Sandisk Cruzer Fit or Ultras (Ultras are USB3, but work fine in USB2 ports) and set-up a boot mirror.

 

[Quinnx]

Thanks, ok duly noted.

However after reading some of the forum guides in earlier versions they are advising against USB boot drives.

Should I just bite the bullet and use a sata port and or a sata dom device?

Cheers

 

[m0nkey_]

If you have the capacity to surrender a SATA port for a SATA DOM device, then go for it. It'll likely be far more reliable. But for your Joe Average FreeNAS box (very much like my own), a couple of USB drives will do the trick.

 

[Quinnx]

To add, what if it was usb2 to mSATA?

 

[m0nkey_]

Still wouldn't do it.

 

[Ericloewe]

To add, what if it was usb2 to mSATA?

Then you have to deal with an invariably crummy USB/SATA bridge. Might as well get a good USB drive (yes, some do exist!).

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

some of the forum guides in earlier versions they are advising against USB boot drives.

The key is to always have an up-to-date copy of your configuration. That way, if your boot device dies, recovery is straightforward, and whether you use USB or SATA is far less critical (assuming your system isn't mission-critical).

 

[Mirfster]

To me it would see like taking a super fast car (insert favorite one here... Ferrari, Porsche, etc..) yanking out the engine and replacing it with a 4 cylinder. Transfer speed of a USB is not even close to what a mSATA is capable of.

Like others have said, if you have the SATA ports to spare I would say go for using that instead. If you want USB, just stay with USB stick/drive. No need to over complicate things, just keep backups of your configs.

 

[Quinnx]

Then you have to deal with an invariably crummy USB/SATA bridge. Might as well get a good USB drive (yes, some do exist!).

Can you recommend any good reliable USB Drives? Don't mind the speed so much, just enterprise level, or something that will run well, for a long time.

Thanks.

 

[m0nkey_]

Just get yourself a couple of Sandisk Cruzer Fit or Ultras (Ultras are USB3, but work fine in USB2 ports) and set-up a boot mirror.

I already answered that already :)

Or bite the bullet and get a couple of small capacity SSD drives.

 

[Quinnx]

I already answered that already :)

Or bite the bullet and get a couple of small capacity SSD drives.

Ah yes, cheers ears! ;)

 

[TAC]

I found the following very helpful and informative on mirroring USB boot devices. It's really not a big deal if one does fail (or both)..... if you've got a good backup of your config files.

http://blog.brianmoses.net/2016/04/mirroring-the-freenas-usb-boot-device.html

 

[gpsguy]

As the blog author noted, this same information is in the manual - "5.3.1 Mirroring the Boot Device" http://doc.freenas.org/9.10/freenas_system.html#mirroring-the-boot-device

Of course, many of our users don't RTFM.

I found the following very helpful and informative on mirroring USB boot devices.