Zimbra & SSDs

[uxbod]

I am going to build a new home server shortly and quite interested in the idea of using a SSD to host the OS and Zimbra. Obviously I would not want a huge number of writes to take place on the SSD so what directories would need to be mounted on a standard HD ? This is how my current server looks

[root@office log]# df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
                      38533760   8498848  28045896  24% /
/dev/xvda1              101086     27755     68112  29% /boot
tmpfs                  1572952         0   1572952   0% /dev/shm
/dev/shm                102400        40    102360   1% /opt/zimbra/data/amavisd/tmp

Would it really make much difference ? I guess it would depend on how often files from the SSD would be read or does Jetty hold most of them in cache anyway ?

[y@w]

Not sure what filesystem / configuration you're using but I'd say that for sure you'd want to turn atime off if you're using ext3.. Zimbra recommends it in the large deployment wiki page (which I'm guessing your home server wouldn't qualify for ) but it updates the disk each time a file is acccessed if not turned off.

http://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?tit...ts#File_System


I found another person saying not using noatime (good old double negative going on) on SSD is "harmful". Bad for performance or hard on disks, I'm not sure..

SSD Without noatime Mount Option Considered Harmful - HUGE Performance Boost Kevin Burton’s NEW FeedBlog

[Bill Brock]

If the SSD's are looked at as removeable drives, permissions may be a possible issue. I have had issues with USB drives.

[uxbod]

They use a standard IDE/SATA interface so will act as a normal drive.

[Bill Brock]

How big of an SSD can you get these days?

[uxbod]

128GB yet I only have 40GB allocated to my VM partition and could get it all into a 32GB one

[Bill Brock]

Didn't read the article but remembered you posting this thread sometime back. Did you ever decide to go SSD?

Considering an SSD? Read this | The Apple Core | ZDNet.com

[uxbod]

Unfortunately for the gains it becomes a little cost prohibitive (especially a home office server ) Funds allowing I shall be moving to a iSCSI setup though instead