mSATA is SATA SSD in different package than ordinary 2.5" SSDs or HDDs. There is additional mSata connector in your laptop where you could plug it in. That way you could keep your SATA HDD or SSD + the optical drive.
Here is an example of mSata SSD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4P02T64815 They cost less than $100 per 250GB drive and you would plug them to the mSata slot. See p 74 Hardware Maintenance Manual: https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/l420_l421_l520_hmm_en_0a60342_07.pdf That slot is not used in your laptop, unless you have and use WAN card for LTE (mobile internet). Hope it helps, Tomas On Saturday, May 14, 2016 09:03:49 AM Denis Heidtmann wrote: > On Sat, May 14, 2016 at 1:14 AM, Tomas Kuchta <tomas.kuchta.li...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > About your Win7 VBox install - You should not need win installation disks > > from > > Lenovo - just create Win 7 restore disk from Control Panel and use that to > > restore Win 7 in VBox VM. If that fails they are downloadable from MS - in > > this case you will need Win 7 licence sticker with the activation code. > > > > In terms of your SSD, if I would be building this machine, I would > > consider > > couple of SSD scenarios: > > > > 1. Get mSata SSD and use it as boot disk, swap and for the VMs instead of > > the > > HDD. Everything else would stay the same - hdd and the optical drive. > > mSata > > drives cost about the same as SATA SSDs these days. > > > > 2. Replace the hdd with SSD and use it as boot disk, swap and for the VMs > > instead of the HDD. This would leave the hdd out, thus saving money > > instead of > > purchasing the optical drive hdd enclosure which could cost more than SSD. > > Storing bulk data on a network drive instead of in a laptop has many > > advantages. > > > > 3. Replace the hdd with SSD and use it as boot disk, swap and for the VMs > > instead of the HDD. Reuse the hdd as home dir in the optical bay. I take > > it > > that SSD would be /dev/sda and hdd /dev/sdb. > > > > OS and VMs perform much better on SSDs, especially when you run more than > > one. > > > > It all depends what is the best compromise for you. > > Tomas > > Thanks for the ideas. #3 is what I was contemplating, although I am not > sure how much disk space I will need. If the 128G SSD I have would > suffice, I could put everything on it, and keep the 320G HD in a caddy for > occasional use, backups, etc. > > For my general knowledge, I would like to understand the use of an mSATA > drive. (this machine has none). Does an mSATA drive displace some other > FRU? Does it have any performance assets or liabilities vis-a-vis an SSD > installed in the usual hard drive bay? Your option #1 might be the same as > #3 with the added benefit of keeping the optical drive functional. My > understanding is that a standard SSD is just a mechanical housing around an > mSATA drive. Can I just take the three screws out of the 128G SSD I have > to yield an mSATA? > > The service manual has too much information. I need to learn what to > ignore. > > -Denis > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
