[Server-devel] Booting from a big USB stick

[Adam Holt]

> My dream is an RPi3 based schoolserver with a 1TB (or 2TB) external
hard-drive at under $150 (about 1/3 of NUC-based server).

Or $35 RPi4 in 2020 which might even raise your hard-disk transfer rate
well above the current USB2 theoretical max of 60 MBytes/sec -- just don't
count on SATA or NMVe or M.2 (:

My point earlier was simply that well-meaning people who are unfamiliar
with the developing world (quite the opposite of Tony Anderson) should
avoid wasting their money buying $68 400GB
<https://amazon.com/dp/B074RNRM2B> and $130 512GB
<https://amazon.com/dp/B07MKSGZM6> microSD cards for Raspberry Pi...the
reasons are not always obvious in the rich world:

   1. Tiny $~100 items (a microSD card is smaller than a penny) can
   "silently disappear" in classrooms/countries where that represents a
   month's salary.  Recriminations across the school become very serious in
   cases of theft, sometimes resulting in cancellation of their computer
   program.  Yep "thoughtless generosity" can frequently backfire.
   2. Even the temptation of theft can create dangerous social disruption
   in impoverished schools/countries especially -- whereas a wealthy volunteer
   typically won't give a thought to $100, not realizing this is equivalent to
   leaving $10,000 in cash completely unprotected in a classroom in a rich
   part of the world -- e.g. in places like NY City where teachers salaries of
   $100,000 to $120,000/year exist (and are no longer uncommon).
   3. A USB hard disk can be a much better use of funds than a microSD card
   among groups that want a "full library experience" (as you point out).
   Particularly if they have people who are experienced/intelligent enough
   (like yourself) to fill those TB disks with high-quality and
   locally-relevant local-language materials.  Conversely I've met many
   well-meaning NGO's and govts who do not have a clue how to fill even a
   fraction of their 1TB disks with pedagogically relevant/useful/legal OER's
   (open educational resources) *so our road remains long :)*

--
Unsung Heroes of OLPC, interviewed live @ http://unleashkids.org !
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