I am getting a new laptop soon and unfortunately it only has 256gb ssd. I don't really want to partition it since that would leave me with a meager amount of space. I also want to keep my Windows 8.1. Therefore I am considering to either boot Ubuntu from an external hard drive or run it through a virtual machine and store the data on the external.
Which one is safer? Since the external hdd is connected via usb 3.0, there is a risk of disconnecting the usb cord during runtime and I am afraid this would cause a number of problems such as data corruption. Therefore, would a virtual machine be a safer bet? Or are there better options available?