This question could apply to many portable apps but I'm particularly asking because of Firefox performance issues. I'm running it over a USB 2.0 connection but everything operates slowly. I've tried increasing cache size etc but no dice. Wouldn't it be possible just to put a temporary cache on another fixed disk if one is found upon startup of the app and then delete that cache upon shutdown? I have at least 20 extensions installed which may have something to do with it too.
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Flash ram is SLOW compared to standard RAM and hard drives. The slowest of all is writes to said flash ram. So, the larger your cache, the more writing, the slower Portable Firefox will be. That's why cache is disabled by default.
Same with other writes. Cookies slow things down a bit. History does, too. So does form saving. Extensions that write on every page load (like Session Save for example) slow it down even more. So ALL of that is disabled by default except cookies (cost vs benefit said leave em on).
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
A large amount of Firefox, along with all Firefox extensions, are written using a variant of javascript. This means that it reads the file and excutes it while it's reading it. This is another factor that slows down the speed of Firefox on slower mediums like USB drives.
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I've noticed a difference between flash drives, even the same brand. My Sandisk Cruzer Micros seem to respond quicker than my Sandisk Cruzer Mini.
Each model within a brand is different. Even different sizes of the same model are different. Write performance is key for portable apps, and these graphs show the differences very well:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2549&p=26
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!