Bootchart

A very useful utility for identifying boot performance is the bootchart package. It collects the boot data, and prepares a beautiful, detailed chart— bootchart.png in the /var/log directory. Unlike systemdanalyze, this includes the start of the display manager. This is the time that matters to the user. With the SSD, bootchart gives the time as 26 seconds when the login screen is ready. The corresponding timing for a SATA root disk is 56 seconds originally, and 41 seconds after de-fragmentation. The difference between the two types of disks can be seen from the following table: Cumulative time SSD root SATA root SATA root restored CPU time IO time

Elapsed time 24 sec 44 sec

26 sec 29 sec 343 sec

56 sec 28 sec 177 sec

41 sec

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A 60 GB SSD is a cost-effective option in a desktop, as it can EH usHG IRU URRW DnG hRmH. 0ulWLmHGLD DnG RWhHU lDUgH filHs FDn EH on the existing SATA or IDb hard disk. This investment is likely to result in better performance than replacing the desktop—unless, of course, your brand-new desktop relies exclusively on SSD.

My next project is to refresh my netbook. That may happen soon, as more options for 120 GB SSDs are becoming available in India, and local prices are likely to become comparable to US prices.