Will Parallels run fast enough from a USB 3.0 Thumb drive?

[JamilB]

256GB Thumb drives are starting to become VERY inexpensive relative to SSDs. Before purchasing, I'd like to know if anyone has real world feedback on running parallels from a USB 3.0 Thumb Drive.

 

[LeanKit]

Not such a great idea. SSD R/RW speeds are in the mid 500MB/s, while even the fastest USB 3 flash drives are between 1 and 200 MB/s . Not to mention speed lost due to using the USB bus vs the SATA bus.

Edit: The USB 3 drive I used for comparison was over $200, which is the same price as a 256GB 840Pro SSD. What USB drives were you looking at?

 

[JamilB]

This 256GB Pny USB 3.0 Thumb drive is like $97 after rebate and instant discount code : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178725

Think it would be faster or slower than a Sandisk 128GB MicroSD?

Right now i'm using a SSD that works great...i'm really just trying to find something more portable.

 

[LeanKit]

That 256 PNY is decent by USB standards with 185/135 MB/s.

Do NOT go to MicroSD. Even the Class 10 Micro SD/s are 10MB/s

So.. you're talking about a quarter of the speed with the Flash Drive, and 1/50th of the speed with the Micro SD.

Both are poor options for running a virtualized operating system.