> >>I think it would be a good idea to build a FW (OpenBSD 4.2+PF) with a > >>flash-card as a disk. > >> > >>I see two related questions: > >> > >>1) ?How to make an OpenBSD regular instalation on flash-card? > > > >This really is not a pf question. However you will find that CF looks > >like an IDE HDD. > >Just go ahead and install as if it was a hard disk. > > > >>2) ?Is it needed a regular [P/S]ATA/SCSI disk if I plan no keep any > >>logs > >>on local in the FW? > > > >No. Don't believe anybody that says you need to do special stuff with > >CF. Some of us have tried, without success, to wear out a CF card.
I've just recently built an OpenBSD firewall with a CF disk. It works just
fine -- the installation proceeds exactly as for a mechanical disk.
I do, however, use the mfsmount script
(http://stsx.xs4all.nl/www.stsx.org/software/openbsd/README.mfsmount.txt)
which puts /var on a RAM-disk and re-mounts / read-only. As mentioned
before, this precaution is probably unnecessary, but having the CF mounted
read-only ensures that no unwanted writes are occurring at all.
Even if you don't mount / read-only, you may wish to mount it noatime to
avoid access time updates every time a file is accessed. By minimizing
writes, you will also reduce the number of sometimes lengthy erase cycles
required by the underlying flash-ROM devices.
Regards,
David Querbach
Real-Time Systems Inc.
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