Entware Entware: which USB stick performs well?

[kvic]

@kvic - BTW - kernel 4.4 and 64-bit - Rockchip A53 board, eh?

LOL. See...I catch you

 

[unknownz]

Interesting case! The numbers look not right. The old Samsung EVO+ MicroSD (not the newer EVO Plus) is good but the numbers are too good. I'm afraid either iozone can't handle the case or it's simply benchmarking Windows RAM..



The numbers don't look right either. iozone can handle most cases but hasn't been updated for years. From my brief trial, it can't handle tmpfs mount. I suspect it's benchmarking the MicroSD card

Did not know there is EVO+ and EVO Plus card until you mentioned it. Did a quick check and confirm that mine is the EVO Plus version.

Will find an opportunity to plug in a USB stick and see if iozone reports the result differently

 

[Clark Griswald]

@kvic
SanDisk Ultra CZ48 32GB USB 3.0 Flash
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYK2AKO/?tag=snbforums-20
Currently I am forbidden from "playing" with the network, since kid's school started and wife is home today, so I will attempt to post results this weekend.

 

[sfx2000]

LOL. See...I catch you

When you can self-host, it'll be fun

 

[kvic]

When you can self-host, it'll be fun

View attachment 14198

And when you also enable HDMI/VGA display as well as USB keyboard input in U-Boot, all the user experience...become familiar. It's a good old & boring PC. lol

Hence, I would suggest trying something different. Enable NetConsole in U-Boot. Set up a super fast cross compile infra on PC. Update the SBC after build done automagically. Isn't that cool?

But I get your point

 

[sfx2000]

And when you also enable HDMI/VGA display as well as USB keyboard input in U-Boot, all the user experience...become familiar. It's a good old & boring PC. lol

Hence, I would suggest trying something different. Enable NetConsole in U-Boot. Set up a super fast cross compile infra on PC. Update the SBC after build done automagically. Isn't that cool?

Just goes to show how flexible, and relatively powerful, these little boards have become - Docker on ARM works pretty good these days... Further discussion is probably best on another thread though

 

[M@rco]

Found an old Sandisk Cruzer 4Gb USB 2.0 model SDCZ36-004G-A11/B35 (Amazon UK link), can't say for sure whether it's revision A11 or B35, as the stick doesn't show any info on that.

A brand new Sandisk Ultra Flair (as recommend by @kvic) will hopefully arrive shortly. The Extreme version is above my budget.

Formatted as ext4, the test results are:

        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
        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     1251     1106     5053     5086     4910      808
           20480      16     2312     1670    12750    13165    13062      555
           20480     512     2217     2247    23495    23677    23711     1739
           20480    1024     2157     2323    24733    24834    24787     2380
           20480   16384     1982     2652    26973    27157    27126     2997

iozone test complete.

It's definitely not a speed monster, far from it actually, but considering the fact that this is really an oldie, I was exactually not disappointed with these results.

 

[XIII]

A brand new Sandisk Ultra Flair (as recommend by @kvic) will hopefully arrive shortly.

Currently €9 on Amazon (for 32 GB). Maybe I should buy one to replace my Ultra Fit?

(not sure whether I would actually notice the difference)

 

[M@rco]

Currently €9 on Amazon (for 32 GB). Maybe I should buy one to replace my Ultra Fit?

Sounds like a great price. The lowest price I've seen here (in The Netherlands) for the Ultra Flair 32Gb is €14 (shipping included). Looking at the results of the Ultra Fit, it could very well be possible that you notice the difference (most likely due to a lower CPU load, I guess). When I install Suricata again, I'll definitely notice the difference as it writes continously to USB.

 

[kvic]

Found an old Sandisk Cruzer 4Gb USB 2.0 model SDCZ36-004G-A11/B35 (Amazon UK link), can't say for sure whether it's revision A11 or B35, as the stick doesn't show any info on that.

Added to iozone-db.txt. This one looks like a very classic SanDisk! Thanks for the nostalgia. And my goodness.. do people notice the plug with red plastic? I would bet the design idea borrowed from lady's red soles..

A brand new Sandisk Ultra Flair (as recommend by @kvic) will hopefully arrive shortly. The Extreme version is above my budget.

Remember to run the benchmark and post the result. I'm curious to know how the latest Ultra Flair performs.

(not sure whether I would actually notice the difference)

You'll notice lower CPU usage. Also faster to finish when you perform

opkg upgrade

For light Entware users, you will be fine with virtually anything.

A little secret not widely known is that your Asus router + Entware can actually be close to a full blown Linux server. In this usage scenario, a faster stick helps in every single way.

 

[sfx2000]

Just thought I would share - it's ugly....

Not a main unit in my LAN, but it does a fair amount of testing...

 

[Bamsefar]

If speed is everything, why are we not looking into a SATA SSD in a case with USB port?

I have, for example, an old Intel X25-E 64GB with read spead of 250 MB/s and write of 170 MB/s. No it's not fast by todays SSDs, it is after all a ten year old device....

 

[kvic]

If speed is everything, why are we not looking into a SATA SSD in a case with USB port?

I have, for example, an old Intel X25-E 64GB with read spead of 250 MB/s and write of 170 MB/s. No it's not fast by todays SSDs, it is after all a ten year old device....

I haven't got the time to sort out my blog's server yet. The blog post says it better. In a nutshell, my primary focus is to look at and educate ppl to look at 4KiB read/write speed when you purchase a stick to run application e.g. Entware.

The use of super high sequential read/write speed is very limited for everyday users useless your tasks involving lots of bulk copy which is actually rare activities.

 

[sfx2000]

I haven't got the time to sort out my blog's server yet. The blog post says it better. In a nutshell, my primary focus is to look at and educate ppl to look at 4KiB read/write speed when you purchase a stick to run application e.g. Entware.

The use of super high sequential read/write speed is very limited for everyday users useless your tasks involving lots of bulk copy which is actually rare activities.

Outside of @kvic challenges with getting his alt-host back up and running...

USB3 SSD's like Samsung's devices - they're interesting, and fast - but a bit spendy for a use case attached to a Router/AP.

The Seagate 4TB USB 3.0 drives* - might be more of interest, just know they do pull a bit of power on spin-up - enough that a RPi3 can't support it - the Linksys WRT1900acV2 can on both the eSATA and USB3 port, but I won't support that statement over the long term.

* Those drives are pretty awesome actually - lot of storage for a good price, and good linux support... the one you want to look for is branded as "Backup Portable"

 

[sfx2000]

For light Entware users, you will be fine with virtually anything.

A little secret not widely known is that your Asus router + Entware can actually be close to a full blown Linux server. In this usage scenario, a faster stick helps in every single way.

Not so sure there - if one is considering Entware/Optware - I would suggest they consider alternatives like the Pi3 or Tinkerboard.

AsusWRT is good as a Router, and Entware extends things within that silo - but it pales in comparison to a $35 dollar maker board as far as SW and the ability to build on that.

Tinkerboard has a lot to offer, and it's reasonably priced - and one can tweak to no end there...

Pi3BPlus - hey, it's not the fastest thing out there - but it's got a great community behind it, and it's debian at the end of the day - so finding something interesting on Github - it's git clone, ./configure, make...

 

[kvic]

Entware extends things within that silo - but it pales in comparison to a $35 dollar maker board as far as SW and the ability to build on that.

I would have to disagree. See..someone like you even not get what Entware is. I would bet they are capturing a market share perhaps bigger than a single popular firmware mod. It’s only lacking a kernel to be a full blown system.

 

[The Chief]

Transcend JetFlash 350 8Gb USB2.0 flash stick. Formatted with 4K alignment.

Spoiler: IOZone results

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

random random bkwd record stride
kB reclen write rewrite read reread read write read rewrite read fwrite frewrite fread freread
20480 4 2022 3690 5924 7574 4563 1014
20480 16 5516 4798 9538 14600 11138 2524
20480 512 7036 5178 11448 19413 19397 5607
20480 1024 7035 5170 11478 19485 19468 6830
20480 16384 9397 5863 19174 19223 19220 9396

 

[sfx2000]

See..someone like you even not get what Entware is. I would bet they are capturing a market share perhaps bigger than a single popular firmware mod. It’s only lacking a kernel to be a full blown system.

I do get Entware/Optware - it's all good... they focus on specific items in userland.

Including a kernel and BSP support - it's basically the same as OpenWRT - and the Entware team probably doesn't have the resources to support everything there.

 

[kvic]

I do get Entware/Optware - it's all good... they focus on specific items in userland.

Including a kernel and BSP support - it's basically the same as OpenWRT - and the Entware team probably doesn't have the resources to support everything there.

Hook up a SBC with keyboard + display is like a re-do of the early PC. It's fun for some but perhaps that's about it. You're asking for unnecessary hassle when most people simply want to run ready-made packages (hence Raspberry Pi is still the most popular among SBC's).

For these users, a nicely packaged low-power PC is a better choice. Also why Entware is appealing to the same user groups who can run almost all they want on existing end-products.

 

[sfx2000]

Hook up a SBC with keyboard + display is like a re-do of the early PC. It's fun form some but perhaps that's about it. You're asking for necessary hassle when most people simply want to run ready-made packages (hence Raspberry Pi is still the most popular among SBC's).

For these users, a nicely packaged low-power PC is a better choice. Also why Entware is appealing to the same user groups who can run almost all they want on existing nicely packaged HW.

From a dev perspective...

1) Sort out the bootloader and device tree
2) build a working kernel and c library (uClib, gLbic, or MUSL)
3) Get rootfs sorted to geometry of the root device
4) Get a working Userland - entware isn't quite there, lots of nice packages, but missing essentials

Rest is elementary... I've done steps (1), (2) and (3) above several times over across multiple SoC's running ARMv7a

Kudos to the folks that worked on Rasbian and armhf there, even for ARMv6, as long as you have vfp it generally works for the userland - might not be the most optimized, but it gets a system up and running.

And that userland is something that can get one to that "Hook up a SBC with keyboard + display is like a re-do of the early PC" stage, doesn't need to...

Like I said - I get entware - nice set of package for embedded Linux across different targets, and I appreciate the efforts that the team has put forward.

Anyways, we've gotten way off target for the thread here...