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Thread ID: 71604 2006-08-10 09:09:00 Is there such a thing as an internal flash drive? charlesg (10959) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
477607 2006-08-10 09:09:00 Hi

I'm a software developer and have to spend large amounts of time compiling a huge application. So I'm wondering if there is any way to speed this up - e.g. is it possible to get a flash drive that is faster than the HDD (I assume it would have to be internal) - it would need to be at least 2.7 Gb to hold the complete app source, obj files, dlls, debugging files, etc, etc...

I've been looking for something of this sort at DSE etc but the only things that look as tho they might be in the right ballpark appear to be for cameras, or connected via USB (presumably that wouldn't be as fast as the HDD?) - but I may be missing something. it wouldn't be the first time...

Any advice would be welcome :D
charlesg (10959)
477608 2006-08-10 09:29:00 You can use compact flash cards internally using a compact flash to IDE adapter (available at DSE - look on the website) or you can use a RAM drive (I've seen SATA ones in Quay Computers here in Wellington). It won't help much with compilation though - CPU speed is usually the bottleneck here.

You may like to consider a dedicated build computer which automatically checks out your program and compiles it at certain intervals. This means you can't forget to build for a while as well - rig it to a siren set it off if the build fails :)
TGoddard (7263)
477609 2006-08-10 09:49:00 Here we go...

Looks like its not yet commerically a viable product...

www.bitmicro.com

news.com.com
At $45 a gigabyte, flash is nearly 100 times more expensive than hard-drive storage, which can sell to manufacturers for around 65 cents a gigabyte. Even in the most optimal comparisons for flash, the technology invariably costs more, say analysts. On the other hand, flash has advantages in space and energy consumption.
netchicken (4843)
477610 2006-08-10 10:16:00 CPU speed is usually the bottleneck here.
:eek: Really? I kind of assumed all that writing obj and sbr files and suchlike was a significant overhead....but that isn't really the side of things I know much about. Oh well...
charlesg (10959)
477611 2006-08-10 10:25:00 Here we go...

Looks like its not yet commerically a viable product...

www.bitmicro.com
Damn, are you sure? Looks like it'd be useful....OTOH I can't actually see an "add to basket" button anywhere...
charlesg (10959)
477612 2006-08-10 12:50:00 www.pqi.com.tw

Any good computer shop should be able to get these in for you
Rob99 (151)
477613 2006-08-10 13:08:00 Not knowing what the specs are for your computer does not help me at this time.

A RAM disk will probably do what you want.

I have 4 gigs of RAM in my box and I sometimes use 1.5 gigs as a RAM disk for when I need to use Paintshop for an extended period of time to edit photos.

This does not happen to me often but a ram disk can be useful at times.

In my experience you must remember that a ramdisk is volatile memory.
If the power is cut you will lose everything on that drive.

How much ram do you have and what operating system are you using?
Sweep (90)
477614 2006-08-10 23:08:00 "Flash memory" is not all that fast in many cases either.
To assume an "internal flash memory" device would outperform a HDD may be errorneous.
godfather (25)
477615 2006-08-10 23:12:00 Actualy a ram disk would be far cheaper and faster I imagine. Thats seems a great compromise netchicken (4843)
477616 2006-08-10 23:32:00 Actualy a ram disk would be far cheaper and faster I imagine. Thats seems a great compromise
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea! I'll look into it...thanks! :)
charlesg (10959)
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