FreeBSD on IDE Flash disk drive

[Tuc at T-B-O-H.NET]

> 
> Hello Derek,
> 
> > You will want the swap to some other device such a a regular hard 
> > drive.  A flash drive can get worn out cells and fail.
> 
> Also when just reading the flash drive? I would like to write to it
> only when it is absolutely necessary (configuration change). I think
> 2 million configuration changes should be enough? If it lasts only year,
> no problem I can exchange it every now and then. I just hope it is more
> damage-proof than ordinary hard drives (for example at power outages).
> 
> Bye,
> Nejc
> 
	The answer is.... NO... (IMNSHO)

	I have a few Soekris servers running FreeBSD 5.5 at a 
*REMOTE* location (When I say remote, I don't mean the next city, or
next state, or even a few states away... I mean a few states away
*AND* you need a 4WD to drive 9 miles to get to it. Its ~500 feet
from the Atlantic Ocean in an area without any paved roads). I
have CF cards in them for the primary, the more durable/rugged of 
the SanDisk line and USB for swap/ports/squid data. It is *STILL* 
only rated for about 10K R/W operations. I also find when the facility 
DOES lose power (We are still building it out) that the CF and USB 
seem MUCH MORE prone to having issues coming back.

	I had thought to use CF/USB because they wouldn't crash and
be more tolerant of "bad" conditions (heat and salt air humidity). 
I'm pretty much giving up and switching to notebook IDE drives the
next time I am there.

			Tuc