List of *nix NAS OSes installable onto flash drive?

[VirtualLarry]

Is there a list somewhere? I was wondering, how hard it would be to install the OS onto a flash drive? unRAID actually does that by design.

I was also interested in FreeNAS, which I believe is BSD-based.

I have a storage server in the wings, with 3-4 1TB HDs, and then another HD if I need it for the OS. But if I could save a HD, and install into a USB drive, that would be perfect.

http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?251-How-to-write-the-embedded-FreeNAS-8-image-under-Windows

 

[PCTC2]

FreeNAS of course can. They recommend it.

But I think pretty much any USB capable modern linux OS can RUN from a USB flash drive. Just make sure what you're doing isn't exactly write intensive to the flash drive (they don't have the endurance of an SSD). Just shove a flash drive in, and during installation if it shows up as a usable disk, try installing to it.

The last USB-based Linux I used was pre-unity Ubuntu on my old netbook.

 

[mv2devnull]

But I think pretty much any USB capable modern linux OS can boot from a USB flash drive.

Run from. "Live distro's" do exactly that. From CD/DVD or USB. There are tools to create custom live distro's. USB can have writable "overlay" to store changes, but as said: writes are limited.

 

[PCTC2]

Run from. "Live distro's" do exactly that. From CD/DVD or USB. There are tools to create custom live distro's. USB can have writable "overlay" to store changes, but as said: writes are limited.

I meant run from. "Live distros" aren't exactly that. Live distros will generally reset to this fresh-image form after a reboot (live a LIVE CD). However, you can probably run any modern Linux OS in a non-Live form fully installed and RUNNING FROM a USB drive.

 

[themillak]

select the usb stick as the install point