SSD vs RAM

[zomg]

What is better for active 24/7 network fileserver (ftp/http, 25-50 mbit, read only)
more ram for filesystem caching with classic hdd
or it is worth buy cheap ssd for active files (classic hdd for the rest) with small ram?

 

[sub.mesa]

So how large is your data set? If you store 2GB and you have 4GB RAM, then you shouldn't need to read from disk very often. If this is about 10GB+, the RAM won't help you.

So it all depends on the volume of the files that you store, especially the part that is actively used.

 

[TehQuick]

RAM is faster than any SSD, so...

 

[zomg]

Lets say we have (2 gb ram) and classic hdd with (200 gigs) of content, (20 gigs) is most active files.

how it will be better to improve performance with (4 gb ram) and (32-40 gb ssd)?

add 2 ssd (almost half of all files on fast drive)
add 2 ram (almost half of active files in memory, the rest is on slow drive)
add 1 ssd and 1 ram (a few of active files in memory, a few of all files on fast drive)

 

[sub.mesa]

Your RAM needs to be as big as the active data set. If that doesn't work; you're disk bound in your work. In that case, a fast (intel) SSD would be recommended.