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Performance of Ubuntu installed on external SSD drive

tn flag
nnikade

I have Asus Vivobook S15 X530UN laptop with:

16GB RAM
1 TB HDD
Samsung 860 EVO SATA M.2 250GB SSD (100 and 150 GB partitions)
one USB 3.0 Type-A port and one USB 3.0 Type-C port

running Windows 10 Pro installed on the 100GB partition of the SSD.

I have a project for which I need to run Ubuntu for programming stuff (docker, git, nodejs, IDEs ...).
I don't want to format and reconfigure my SSD, and I also don't want to run the project in a virtual machine, so I'm looking at options of how to make it work with an external SSD.
This drive will be connected only to my laptop, so there shouldn't be any hardware changes and driver conflicts on subsequent connects.
In the past I have used live Linux distros booted from USB sticks, but mostly for troubleshooting and without using permanent storage.

Would it be possible to install Ubuntu on the external SSD and work with it like a regular OS for everyday use in full-time software development job with a higher load (multiple IDEs, running docker with multiple containers (mysql, node, redis, nginx, php), Slack, browser ...)?
Will there be any performance loss due to the connection through USB and the drive being external?
Any thoughts about setup and working permanently like this?

P.S. The drives I'm considering buying are "HP P700 256GB SSD" or "Netac ZX 250GB SSD", which according to specs use USB 3.1 Type-C connector.

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tn flag
nnikade
I'm aware that I can install Ubuntu on an external drive. I am more interested in experiences and opinions about the performance for every day use under a higher load for software development job (multiple IDEs, running docker with multiple containers (mysql, node, redis, nginx, php), Slack, browser ...)
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cn flag
Ray
If you have a spare external SSD, I would suggest you just give it a try. As for "performance loss", of course there will be. I think your "gut feeling" told you that or else you wouldn't be asking that question. However, is the performance loss enough to bother you and/or go through the trouble of re-formatting that Win10 SSD? I guess that's only something you can evaluate yourself... I personally don't consider the software development tasks that you listed as "high load", to be honest... There are far more disk demanding tasks out there...
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tn flag
nnikade
@Ray The thing is I don't have a spare SSD. I'm thinking of buying a new one just for this job. Yes, those software development tasks are not quite "high load", but they're more than casual use of browsing and email. And given the project at this moment has 50k+ files, read/write speed is important when an IDE re-indexes stuff. Given that I have a free USB 3.0 Type-C port, I would be satisfied if the read/write speeds are at least 70% of the drive specs, which for sure is lot more than the 5200rpm HDD I have in the laptop and can probably re-partition easier than the existing SSD.
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oldfred avatar
cn flag
oldfred
I do not use external install as main working system, but it works well. You speeds will be limited by your computer port. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C Once applications are loaded into RAM, system runs at same speed as an internal drive. Its booting & loading larger apps that SSD is quicker. I used USB to M.2 adapter & M.2 SATA drive.
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Nmath avatar
ng flag
Nmath
Questions that ask for anecdotes and opinions are [off-topic](https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic). The part of your question that is on topic has already been asked and answered. https://askubuntu.com/help/dont-ask
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Koen avatar
ca flag
Koen
I'm using an external SSD via USB now - it's important to check the version of USB3 you have - I have USB 3.2 Gen 1 i.e. 5Gbps and a SSD supporting 10Gbps - for my use case it's pretty speedy - including visual code & heavy use of git (no heavy use of docker yet) - I think 3.0 is 5Gbps - so in my experience it is pretty good - would be better to have 10Gbps I suppose
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MikroPower avatar
ro flag
MikroPower
If your Laptop have a optical drive, then you can remove it and insert a Caddy for a SSD or HDD, so that your SSD/HDD is directly connected with the S-ATA connector on the mainboard. Then the performance is optimal. With USB you will always have some limitations.
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