[Soekris] arguments for ADDing flash to an hdd-based system?

[Farid Hajji]

On Sat, Apr 14, 2007 at 10:00:00AM -0700, Tenzen wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've a net4801 + freebsd-on-hdd setup running comfortably.
> 
> I'm interested in lists members' opinions on whether there's any
> particular reasons/advantages to ADDing flash-mem.
> 
> That's ADDing to, NOT replacing the hdd.

1. Saving /etc and other important config data from the HDD
to flash, in case you need to replace the HDD?

2. Having a backup system to boot from, should your HDD fail,
or should the normal upgrade procedure (make installworld...)
go wrong for any reason.

> 3 arg types come to mind --
> 
>   (1) philosophy
>   (2) performance
>   (3) power utilization
> 
> Other than mv'ing /boot to flash which, since the hdd is already
> spun-up/in-use doesn't _seem_ like a huge up-side, what are your
> thoughts?

Essentially as a backup drive; allowing for operation in
"degraded mode" if there's any problem with the HDD or
the FreeBSD partition.

It's also useful if you hooked up your remote net4801 to a terminal
server: rebooting into the degraded mode Flash is easy, and from
there, you can mount the HDD and copy the backup install on it
again; then reboot to HDD; voila, instant restore! ;-)

> Thanks.
> 
> --Tenzen

Cheers,
-Farid.