
The fastest USB storage options for Raspberry Pi - geerlingguy
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2020/fastest-usb-storage-options-raspberry-pi
======
geerlingguy
tl;dr: Using a cheap NVMe drive with a USB enclosure is the best value for
overall performance, but can take up a bit of extra space.

Using an Arcanite flash drive might be best if you just need to copy large
files infrequently or for media playback (but not for heavy writes, as it
overheats, or for general computing—it's as slow for 4K random IO as a microSD
card).

Using run-of-the-mill cheap flash drives (I tested a SanDisk Ultra Fit and
SanDisk Ultra Flair) is a terrible option, as they perform even worse than
most name-brand microSD cards!

Finally, I was blown away by the Corsair Flash Voyager GTX... but it's $55,
and fairly large, making it a little more expensive (though still smaller)
than similar-performing external NVMe and SSD drives.

~~~
rasz
Its a result of economies of scale. 128GB NVMe is nowadays lowest common
denominator SSD, thus manufactured in millions at lowest price possible.

------
bartvk
That SanDisk Ultra Fit is doing pretty well. What I really like about this
thumb drive, is that it's so small that it easily can be stuck there
permanently.

I've got a Mac Mini to which I've added a comparable stick, the Samsung Fit
Plus 256 GB. Great addition but unfortunately I haven't figured out yet how to
make a fusion drive with it.

~~~
geerlingguy
I ran with one in my MacBook Air for a few months, but I noticed that if I
used it for more than a few seconds of file IO (e.g. copying one large file to
it for a couple minutes, or trying to run some application off it), it would
slow down considerably... and in those cases if I unmounted it and pulled it
out, it was hot enough to cause discomfort!

In the video, I cover how it's a nice, cheap drive, but it's basically trading
off a lot of performance for that tiny size!

~~~
willcipriano
I have one as well, sometimes it gets so hot that it disconnects from the
machine mid file transfer. However I've had it for a few years and it still
works.

------
Legogris
Thank you jeff! Are you aware if the GTX and Arcanite support TRIM? That
definitely makes a difference when considering OS storage.

~~~
geerlingguy
That’s a good question, and something I forgot to check. I also forgot to test
which devices supported UASP; I think the SSDs and Corsair did, but not sure
about the Arcanite. Sounds like I need to do a follow-up!

~~~
Legogris
That’d be amazing! Ive spent some time trying to figure out which flash drives
do and don’t but couldn’t find anything online or from vendors so far.

------
totalZero
Thank you for doing this.

