From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jul 9 03:30:10 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 95C11106566B for ; Mon, 9 Jul 2012 03:30:10 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 52C2A8FC18 for ; Mon, 9 Jul 2012 03:30:10 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id q693U6ls051629; Sun, 8 Jul 2012 21:30:06 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) with ESMTP id q693U6lO051626; Sun, 8 Jul 2012 21:30:06 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2012 21:30:06 -0600 (MDT) From: Warren Block To: Graham Bentley In-Reply-To: <1211EED02D7F4079B279A9D413857ECF@admin> Message-ID: References: <20120708120028.99568106568F@hub.freebsd.org> <1211EED02D7F4079B279A9D413857ECF@admin> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.7 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Sun, 08 Jul 2012 21:30:06 -0600 (MDT) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: YASSDQ X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:30:10 -0000 On Sun, 8 Jul 2012, Graham Bentley wrote: > Hi I have put together a little experimental FreebSD 9.0 > box which comprises of ; > > http://www.cartft.com/catalog/il/934 > http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-023-ZA > 2GB RAM and a Sandisk SDSA3BD-054G 8GB SSD > > The idea is a silent system I can tinker on - nothing serious. I chose the > guided install and accepted the default partition / fs layout. I thought the > things where running a bit slow and changed from 'native' in the BIOS to > 'legacy' SATA and things seem a bit quicker now however I am wondering if I > am getting the bext out of the SDD? I have read a little about 'aligning' and > 4k sectors I think? If its running ok should I leave as is? Or do you have > tunning advice for me? The default install of 9.0-RELEASE does not align to 4k sectors. Depending on the SSD, this might cost a little or a lot of performance. The example gpart commands I posted in the "Format a USB flash drive" thread create aligned partitions: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2012-July/243190.html Notes: 1. SSDs don't necessarily use 4k blocks, some use larger ones. Starting the first filesystem partition at 1M works for most of the common values. 2. As Bruce Cran pointed out, TRIM can be enabled with UFS. But make sure the SSD supports it first. 3. Swap is tricky with small drives, even trickier if you want to use TRIM. Swap files can be used, and then you get TRIM, but see http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=bin/168544 for a way to dismount that swap file before shutdown and an annoying panic.