Persistent Linux – What is it? After looking through some of the tutorials offered on Pendrivelinux.com, you may be wondering what Persistent Linux means. So in the following segment, I will cover my understanding of persistence in relation to Linux, data storage and recovery. In addition, I will try to explain some of the limitations of using a USB Persistent or Persistence Data storage structure.

Wikipedia definition: "Persistence – in computer science refers to the characteristic of data that outlives the execution of the program that created it. Without this capability, data only exists in RAM, and will be lost when the memory loses power, such as on computer shutdown."

What does Persistence mean for USB Linux Users?

For USB Linux users, a persistent Linux install is one that allows it's user to save data changes back to the USB storage device instead of leaving the information in system RAM. This data can then be recovered and used again on subsequent boots, even when booting from different machines. Typically a separate Persistent storage space is used in conjunction with a compressed Live Linux OS.

Advantages and disadvantages of using the persistence feature?

Advantages:

More available storage space – Since the Live Linux Operating System (OS) is compressed with most persistent installs, the entire operating system takes up less space. Enabling operating systems that usually require gigabytes of space to be condensed into storage capacities less than 1GB in many cases.
Less wear on the