Entware Entware: which USB stick performs well?

[Beherit]

Reading further on this beast. It's basically a SSD with a USB 3 connector. It shall be running UASP. Does Merlin firmware support it? @RMerlin

Yep, it's awesome. I got it on a 70% discount. I'm not sure it really classifies as a memory stick as it is indeed an SSD.

I've no idea what UASP is, or if the drive supports it. The output of hdparm -I is:

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
       Model Number:       Corsair Voyager GTX                   
       Serial Number:      1735808200010541005f
       Firmware Revision:  S9FM02J6
       Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
       Supported: 10 9 8 7 6 5
       Likely used: 10
Configuration:
       Logical         max     current
       cylinders       16383   16383
       heads           16      16
       sectors/track   63      63
       --
       CHS current addressable sectors:    16514064
       LBA    user addressable sectors:   268435455
       LBA48  user addressable sectors:   500118192
       Logical  Sector size:                   512 bytes
       Physical Sector size:                   512 bytes
       Logical Sector-0 offset:                  0 bytes
       device size with M = 1024*1024:      244198 MBytes
       device size with M = 1000*1000:      256060 MBytes (256 GB)
       cache/buffer size  = unknown
       Form Factor: less than 1.8 inch
       Nominal Media Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Capabilities:
       LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
       Queue depth: 32
       Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
       R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
       Advanced power management level: disabled
       DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
            Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
       PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
            Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
       Enabled Supported:
          *    SMART feature set
               Security Mode feature set
          *    Power Management feature set
          *    Write cache
          *    Look-ahead
          *    Host Protected Area feature set
          *    WRITE_BUFFER command
          *    READ_BUFFER command
          *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
               Advanced Power Management feature set
               SET_MAX security extension
          *    48-bit Address feature set
          *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
          *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
          *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
          *    SMART error logging
          *    SMART self-test
          *    General Purpose Logging feature set
          *    WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
          *    IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
          *    WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
          *    Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
          *    Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
          *    Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
          *    Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
          *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
          *    Host-initiated interface power management
          *    Phy event counters
          *    Host automatic Partial to Slumber transitions
          *    Device automatic Partial to Slumber transitions
               DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
               Device-initiated interface power management
          *    Software settings preservation
          *    DOWNLOAD MICROCODE DMA command
          *    DEVICE CONFIGURATION SET/IDENTIFY DMA commands
          *    Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 8 blocks)
Security:
       Master password revision code = 65534
               supported
       not     enabled
       not     locked
       not     frozen
       not     expired: security count
               supported: enhanced erase
       60min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 60min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Checksum: correct

 

[M@rco]

I've no idea what UASP is, or if the drive supports it

The drive does but I think the firmware does not (and won't given the age of the kernel), see this post:

Spinning down HDD

 

[kvic]

The drive does but I think the firmware does not (and won't given the age of the kernel), see this post:

Spinning down HDD

Thanks for the link. So seems there is some interest in UASP. I dig up a bit. UASP is available since kernel 2.6.39

For 56U/68U/87U/88U/etc, people will have to back port to 2.6.36. Shall be relatively straight forward I would assume.

For 86U, lots easier. Recompile the kernel with CONFIG_USB_UAS flag set to "m" or "y" in .config.

In the other thread, we now have an army of firmware compilers. Perhaps someone could give it a try. Sounds a fun and useful starting point. If things go well, maybe could incorporated into mainline firmware?

I believe someone from that gang will be capable of backporting for non 86U routers.

 

[M@rco]

The results of the Dutch jury:

Run began: Fri Aug 10 11:44:11 2018

Include fsync in write timing
O_DIRECT feature enabled
Auto Mode
File size set to 20480 kB
Record Size 4 kB
Record Size 16 kB
Record Size 512 kB
Record Size 1024 kB
Record Size 16384 kB
Command line used: /jffs/bin/iozone -e -I -a -s 20M -r 4k -r 16k -r 512k -r 1024k -r 16384k -i 0 -i 1 -i 2
Output is in kBytes/sec
Time Resolution = 0.000001 seconds.
Processor cache size set to 1024 kBytes.
Processor cache line size set to 32 bytes.
File stride size set to 17 * record size.
                                                      random    random    
      kB  reclen    write  rewrite    read    reread    read     write    
   20480       4     7036     7130     9836     9950     8254      887
   20480      16     8271    10115    19585    20873    21119     2987
   20480     512     9714    11419    31369    31709    31683    10498
   20480    1024    11120    11600    31689    32036    31906    11296
   20480   16384    11410    11737    33117    32525    33298    11648

iozone test complete.

USB drive: Kingston Digital 16Gb DataTraveler G3 USB 3.0
Filesystem: ext2

 

[kvic]

@M@rco I'll add it to iozone-db. Did you happen to have tried ext4 previously and found faster with ext2?

For buyers, recommendation in the previous page still holds. lol

 

[M@rco]

Did you happen to have tried ext4 previously and found faster with ext2?

I actually have used it with ext4 before, but can't really say whether it was notably faster compared to ext2. I searched back then for utilities to benchmark it, but couldn't find anything useful. I decided to go with a non-journalling fs recently on a fresh install to make sure that there are no extra factors that might slow things down, as my RT-AC68U isn't the newest model anymore either.

 

[sfx2000]

For 56U/68U/87U/88U/etc, people will have to back port to 2.6.36. Shall be relatively straight forward I would assume.

Non-trivial - and that's addition overhead for the maintainers of the AsusWRT forks...

The USB subsystem is a mess back then, and it's a mess now - it's getting better, but keep in mind that the older devices are still on 2.6.36

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks for the link. So seems there is some interest in UASP. I dig up a bit. UASP is available since kernel 2.6.39

Little tip...

Seagate 4TB USB 2.5 externals - they support UASP, many folks buy the drives when they're on sale at Amazon/Costco (don't pay over $125 USD) - the USB to SATA adapters there are a value add that work with most SSD's

https://www.servethehome.com/seagate-4tb-2-5-sata-hdd-124-get-ready-density/

I bought a pack of 10 last time Costco had them on sale for $104...

The SATA drive inside is a bit too thick for laptops, but they work fine in NAS trays - 14mm height there - the drives are PMR and 5400RPM, so not very fast compared to higher speed spinnings, but cost/GB is very favorable...

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks and known issue..

I have two VPS each on one side of the Atlantic. The new one went down for few hours already. So I've pointed the domain back to the old VPS that doesn't have the content after the migration. Hence, people will see an old snapshot...(better than seeing Cloudflare errors). The links in OP are not available in the old VPS.

Looks like it's still a bit broken there...

 

[kvic]

Looks like it's still a bit broken there...

I think the company is broke. The iozone-db.txt...that I already recovered fully from browser cache. The blog post on this benchmark shall be in my regular backup (but I'll lose some editing in other places between backup's).

I haven't restored the content on the old VPS because the versions of Ghost CMS aren't compatible (that was driving me to find a new VPS to begin with). I'm still thinking what's my best next move.

Perhaps I could restore the link to iozone-db.txt first that's straight forward.

update

Link to iozone-db.txt restored.

Thanks to all contributors who submitted test results. Pls check I got your entries right in the above db.

 

[sfx2000]

I think the company is broke. The iozone-db.txt...that I already recovered fully from browser cache. The blog post on this benchmark shall be in my regular backup (but I'll lose some editing in other places between backup's).

I haven't restored the content on the old VPS because the versions of Ghost CMS aren't compatible (that was driving me to find a new VPS to begin with). I'm still thinking what's my best next move.

Sorry to hear about that

 

[M@rco]

@M@rco I'll add it to iozone-db. Did you happen to have tried ext4 previously and found faster with ext2?

For buyers, recommendation in the previous page still holds. lol

I've reformatted the drive to ext4 and it performs even less... Thought I was buying a decent thumbdrive but test results are very disappointing. Any new recommendations in the meantime?

 

[^Tripper^]

I've reformatted the drive to ext4 and it performs even less... Thought I was buying a decent thumbdrive but test results are very disappointing. Any new recommendations in the meantime?

Try turning off journaling?

 

[M@rco]

Try turning off journaling?

Thanks for the suggestion, but then I might as well stick to ext2. I think it's time to buy a new thumb drive.
'Look honey, @kvic just showed me ..... ' . Perfect excuse if you ask me

 

[sfx2000]

Amazing they could stuff TRIM support in such a small package!

How to find out if a stick/card supports TRIM?

Thought I would follow up - here's a Lexar USB3.0 thumb drive... it's /dev/sda

The boot SD card is trim-enabled...

sfx@raspy2~ lsblk --discard

NAME        DISC-ALN DISC-GRAN DISC-MAX DISC-ZERO

sda                0        0B       0B         0
└─sda1             0        0B       0B         0
mmcblk0            0        4M     584M         0
├─mmcblk0p1        0        4M     584M         0
└─mmcblk0p2        0        4M     584M         0
zram0              0        4K       2T         0
zram1              0        4K       2T         0
zram2              0        4K       2T         0
zram3              0        4K       2T         0

 

[kvic]

Thought I would follow up - here's a Lexar USB3.0 thumb drive... it's /dev/sda

The boot SD card is trim-enabled...

Earlier breaking news from homebrew ALARM (ArchLinux for ARM) for my SBC

SanDisk Ultra 16GB MicroSD /w A1 moniker
ext4 on UHS-I bus /w SDR104
CmdLine: iozone -e -I -a -s 20M -r 4k -r 16k -r 512k -r 1024k -r 16384k -i 0 -i 1 -i 2
                                                              random    random
              kB  reclen    write  rewrite    read    reread    read     write
           20480       4     2621     5148    14539    14684    14659     4447
           20480      16     6080     8300    37020    36567    35245     9309
           20480     512    14117    18460    87512    87483    87562    17348
           20480    1024    19421    20552    89326    89399    89341    19356
           20480   16384    20876    20190    90612    91619    91618    25938

 

[gwopman]

I have never had a usb flash drive which my router wouldn't eventually kill, or at least glitch out and not be able to see it anymore. I only use a portable HDD with my router now, and good throughput too... often have it serving files via Samba, disk cache, and running ab-solution at the same time.

 

[sfx2000]

Thought I would follow up - here's a Lexar USB3.0 thumb drive... it's /dev/sda

@kvic - here's one more... Lexar 128GB USB3.0 (running on USB2.0 obviously on Pi3) - this is a super cheap one from Costco.. which I use from time to time to test on different devices.

Formatted as ext4 (with journaling)...

BTW - with iozone - if you append the path at the end, you can test a specific mount...

/dev/sda1 117G 11G 101G 10% /home/sfx/builds

SW Rev => 4.14.62-v7+ #1134 SMP Tue Aug 14 17:10:10 BST 2018
FW Rev => Aug 16 2018 17:30:30
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 31e0613622dc2f2463bf3dd74e6c897d91201a4d (clean) (release)
Machine model: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Rev 1.2
Disk: Lexar    USB Flash Drive  1100

       Command line used: ./iozone -e -I -a -s 20M -r 4k -r 16k -r 512k -r 1024k -r 16384k -i 0 -i 1 -i 2 /home/sfx/builds
       Output is in Kbytes/sec
       Time Resolution = 0.000001 seconds.
       Processor cache size set to 1024 Kbytes.
       Processor cache line size set to 32 bytes.
       File stride size set to 17 * record size.
                                                           random  random    bkwd   record   stride                                 
             KB  reclen   write rewrite    read    reread    read   write    read  rewrite     read   fwrite frewrite   fread  freread
          20480       4    9148    9530    10579    10569    3849     743                                                       
          20480      16   17538   19867    22375    22365   11549    3720                                                       
          20480     512   29793    1524    32333    32373   30792   28778                                                       
          20480    1024   30590   31082    32534    32572   31947   30184                                                      
          20480   16384   27853   32707    33113    33160   33024   31866

 

[kvic]

@kvic - here's one more... Lexar 128GB USB3.0 (running on USB2.0 obviously on Pi3) - this is a super cheap one from Costco.. which I use from time to time to test on different devices.

Formatted as ext4 (with journaling)...

BTW - with iozone - if you append the path at the end, you can test a specific mount...

/dev/sda1 117G 11G 101G 10% /home/sfx/builds

Nice! I'll add it to iozone-db.

What's the full name of the product searchable on amazon? Or perhaps it's a custom model for Costco only?

 

[kvic]

I have never had a usb flash drive which my router wouldn't eventually kill, or at least glitch out and not be able to see it anymore. I only use a portable HDD with my router now, and good throughput too... often have it serving files via Samba, disk cache, and running ab-solution at the same time.

Given long enough time, all things die at the end. HDD simply has a few more years of product perfection under its belt. Today's flash sticks/cards shall last much longer under cruel operating environments. Vendors like SanDisk start offering 10-year warranty with free replacement. I wish my new cards live short enough to get a mid-life upgrade for free. lol.