What are we doing for small server boot drives?

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mattlach

Active Member
Aug 1, 2014
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Hey all,

So I have become frustrated that for my server builds I want SSD boot drives, but for whatever crazy reason all the cheap small drives are gone.

I've come to realize I only need about 8GB for an Ubuntu install, but these days it's difficult to find a reputably branded SSD smaller than 128GB and about $79.

What I would ideally have is a couple of cheap 16GB SSD's I can mirror in ZFS and boot from.

I've looked into SATA DOM's but the only reputable brand I can find is Supermicro, and they was some crazy amount of money (~$80) for these tiny little SSD's.

Then there are the countless Chinese brands. Biwin, Supertalent, Kingspec, Kingfast, you name it.

They are the right price, but are they reliable at all? Would you trust them in a boot drive mirror on at a colocation facility hours away where you can't easily and quickly replace them?

What other options are there for tiny (by modern standards) boot SSD's for baremetal servers?
 

Marsh

Moderator
May 12, 2013
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Intel S3500 80gb is a favorite boot disk with the folks here.

When we find S3500 80gb for $25 BO, I usually buy 10 x SSD at a time.
It hit the $25 per SSD few times in last 12 months.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Intel Gen 3 SSD are like classic cars :D

Just enough performance, but built to last a long long long long time :)
And, affordable if you watch for those deals :D :D
 
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mattlach

Active Member
Aug 1, 2014
323
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Intel S3500 80gb is a favorite boot disk with the folks here.

When we find S3500 80gb for $25 BO, I usually buy 10 x SSD at a time.
It hit the $25 per SSD few times in last 12 months.
Thanks, that is what I like to hear.

Where are you generally finding them at this price? eBay?
 

Marsh

Moderator
May 12, 2013
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Hang out in the Great Deals section of this forum.
Other nice member would post many goo deal, but you wallet would hated the Great deal section.

Search Ebay for "Intel S3500 SSD" ,sort by price from lowest to highest, it should be top part of the listing page.
 
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mattlach

Active Member
Aug 1, 2014
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Thank you,

I appreciate your suggestions guys.

It feels so silly to be buying these huge drives when all I really need is 8GB. I hate the fact that the large reputable manufacturers don't operate in the small low cost segment.

I have the same problem when it comes to my SLOG devices for my ZFS pool. I need something with very low latency writes, high write endurance and capacitor/battery backed.

But I also only need a few GB

If I shop for these criteria, the best choices are super expensive 1.2GB PCIe drives, which is a crying shame.
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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i got at least 5 120gb ssd from black friday or newegg sale. a couple of ocz one old kingston, a couple of generics. the ocz are in computers that are on 24/7 for the past 4 yrs. all of them are used as boot drive and all works fine. they all cost $45 or less.
 

nk215

Active Member
Oct 6, 2015
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I use Intel X25-e 64gb for my boot drives. I just have them from old projects.
 

mattlach

Active Member
Aug 1, 2014
323
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When buying used SSD's, do the sellers usually provide a SMART report?

I'd like to make sure I'm not buying something where the wearout indicator value has gone too far...