Restore/Fresh OS Install From External DVD Drive?

[$MacUser$]

The DVD drive in my mini is a little finicky, and if I wipe the HDD I want to make sure I can subsequently use the restore disks to get it going again. I'm wondering if I can boot from an external DVD drive? If so, does it have to be firewire or will USB suffice?

 

[maflynn]

I use a usb external drive on my MBP (I have a hard drive in the spot where the optical drive used to go) without any problems.

Just hold the options key down when booting and you can select the external drive with the boot disk in that drive