[ale] SSD drive vs. CF Card + ATA interface?

[Brian Pitts]

Chris Woodfield wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Looking at building a new mini-ITX router/firewall - trying to  
> eliminate moving parts as much as I can. So I'm looking to use a  
> fanless CPU, flash-based storage device for the OS, etc.
> 
> Mobo-wise, I'm looking at the Via EPIA M700: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id=670
> 
> What's interesting about this board is that it appears to have an on- 
> board CF socket - with an ATA interface - what's not clear is whether  
> or not it supports booting from CF.
> 
> Question is, what does a dedicated SSD flash drive have over a simple  
> CF card ATA interface? Speed? Wear leveling/improved write cycles?  
> Booting ability? The price difference is pretty substantial,  
> especially since I'm only looking for ~4GB of flash storage, just  
> unclear on what I'm giving up by not using a "real" SSD device.
> 
> Opinions appreciated...

I'd say get a CF card, but get one of the more expensive ones based on
SLC rather than MLC flash. SLC is faster and more reliable than MLC.
Reliability is important because the wear-leveling algorithms in these
devices are pretty poor; see todays discussion of flash failure on
slashdot. Here are two 4GB cards; one is in theory twice as fast and
costs twice as much. Still cheap though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134575
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208297

All the best,
Brian Pitts