Moving to an SD card or USB drive
#1
So I build my XBMC Live box over 2 years ago and it's still going strong. However with the case I chose I am looking for an alternative to squeeze and additional drive into my case. Given it's a slim case I can only really fit in two drives. Right now I have an OS drive, and a Data drive (1.5TB).

So I was thinking of ditching my smaller drive and booting off a SD card or USB stick. I am fearful I will not get great performance coming off USB, so I would rather go SD. However I am not seeing a PCI card that I could mount internal to the case. Anyone with any thoughts? Also I have to stick with half-height thanks to the case.

If not is the next logical step to get a half-height USB3 card and go that route?
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#2
I don't know what kind of Hardware you got and how much of space you got in the case..

but yea i can't find any sd card reader that you can mount in the pci slot..

if you're thinknig about doing USB, you probably can get one of these

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Motherboa...oard+cable

this plugs directly to MOBO so you can hide the usb drive in the case. also, you might want to look at openelec since this should be lighter than XBMC live or XBMCuntu.
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#3
My concerns is USB2 is too slow of an interface to use. Has anyone done a comparison between drive speed (say 5400 rpm drives) v. USB 2.0?
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#4
Patriot XT is a fast USB2.0 drive. How about using a usb header adapter then no need for a pci bracket. Examples:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-Port-Mo...XAHB44ZEYO
or
http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/product...aptor.aspx
Guide to building an all in one Ubuntu Server - TV(vdr),File,Music,Web

Server Fractal Designs Define XL, Asus P5QL/EPU, Dual Core E5200, 4gb, L4M-Twin S2 v6.2, Supermicro AOC-USAS-L8I, 1*SSD & 13*HDD drives (24TB total) - Ubuntu Server
XBMC 1 ASRock Z77E-ITX, G850, 8GB RAM, SSD, BD - Ubuntu / OpenElec frodo
XBMC 2 Revo 3700 - OpenElec frodo
XBMC 3 Raspb Pi
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#5
(2012-06-15, 21:25)LTParis Wrote: My concerns is USB2 is too slow of an interface to use. Has anyone done a comparison between drive speed (say 5400 rpm drives) v. USB 2.0?

use OpenELEC, it's designed to be booted from a usb stick
"PPC is too slow, your CPU has no balls to handle HD content." ~ Davilla
"Maybe it's a toaster. Who knows, but it has nothing to do with us." ~ Ned Scott
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#6
I am not a huge fan of pen drives or SD cards. Even the best ones boot slowly and don't have the smooth experience in a large library you get used to with a SSD.

Find a way to fit an SSD in there.

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#7
The case has zero room for a third drive. Sad
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#8
Not even a little 2.5 inch SSD? It can be anywhere- sideways, upside down, under something. Or heck look at 1.8inch SSDs!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as..._-20147132

If not then USB is better than SD in my experience. Just get the best USB stick you can get.

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Moving to an SD card or USB drive0