Can my start up disk be an external - forever

This one may seem like a duffus question but I wanted to be sure!
Can my start up disk where I have OS X installed be an external drive? Not as a back up but my permenant start up drive.
I ask as my Cube only has a 20GB internal (bless it) which is straining under the weight of OS X plus all associated filage.
So was thinking could have my 60GB external HD as my Start Up drive and use the Cubes 20GB internal as just storage - can I do this?
Thanks
Rob

Thanks guys.
Right have forgotten about my 60 GB external as it is old an slow, but I also have a Lacie Big disk 250gb external which is connected via FireWire 400:
- Rotational Speed (rpm): 7200
- Interface Transfer Rate: FireWire 400 up to 400Mbits/s (50MB/s)
- Average Seek Time (Write): <10 ms
- Buffer: 8MB minimum
The internal drive on my cube is as follows:
- Rotational Speed (rpm): 5400
- Interface Transfer Rate: 66 mega-bites per second.
- Average Seek Time (Write): <9.0 ms
- Buffer: 2MB
So...I am thinking that my external is better than my internal and should improve things?
Thanks also for the advice about the upgrade - I would love to and "I would if I could but I cant" - just dont have the cash so am trying to make things better with what I already have.
Rob

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