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I need to install Ubuntu and Kali Linux on USB Sticks. Before that, what's the minimum requirement that a USB stick should have (for best performance)? For example, Read/Write speed.

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Minimum requirements for the size of the USB flash drive are 4GB for Ubuntu 18.04-22.10 and 8GB for Ubuntu 23.04 and later. Minimum requirements for the size of the USB flash drive are 2GB for Ubuntu 14.04 and 4GB for Kali Linux (regular). A USB 3.0 drive will be faster than a USB 2.0 drive, but still much slower and less stable than running either OS in a virtual machine application like VirtualBox if you allocate at least 2GB RAM to the guest OS.

If you already have access to a running instance of Ubuntu, the Startup Disk Creator application that is built-in in Ubuntu is the best application to use for making a persistent Ubuntu live USB (however the persistent storage feature no longer exists in Startup Disk Creator in Ubuntu 16.04 and later). It seems to boot successfully on more different machines than if other alternative applications are used for making the Ubuntu live USB. Keep this in mind if you run into problems booting the Ubuntu live USB that you made using some other app.

If you are using Ubuntu 16.04 or later, you should also read sudodus's comment below this answer.

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  • Thanks for your clarification. I appreciate it. I will first try installing it using Universal USB Installer on windows, since I don't have access to Ubuntu right now. Beside the USB 2 or 3, how much should be the least read/write speed of USB Stick for best performance?
    – BitSin
    Jul 20, 2014 at 16:00
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    Boot to RAM will give you a big increase in the performance of a Linux live USB. I have three Linux live distros on USB flash drives that are configured to run entirely on RAM and there is no comparison between their performance and the performance of any other Linux live USB distros. For information about Boot to RAM visit the Ubuntu Boot To RAM wiki. To be fair, I haven't tried Boot to RAM on Ubuntu, because I only use my Ubuntu live USB for installation media.
    – karel
    Jul 20, 2014 at 16:21
  • Perfect advice, Karel.
    – BitSin
    Jul 20, 2014 at 16:37
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    I agree, that the current Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator (in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and newer versions) is very reliable. It is a cloning tool (clones the content of the iso file to the boot device (typically a USB pendrive, but it can be another kind of mass storage device, for example a memory card). I would suggest mkusb, which can create persistent live drives from Ubuntu desktop iso files (of all flavours Kubuntu ... Xubuntu) but not mini.iso and Ubuntu Server iso files, because they provide only installers, not live sessions, help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb
    – sudodus
    Jun 8, 2017 at 16:15
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For Performance i say a USB 3 (64gigs - 128Gigs) recommended and minimum (16gigs)

You can check the speed comparisons here, as most outperform hard drives.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-thumb-drive-review,3477.html

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    Thank for the reply, Tasos. Other than capacity, does it need to have high read/write speed? If yes, how much is the minimum?
    – BitSin
    Jul 18, 2014 at 18:15

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