I never tried placing briquettes around the perimeter and lighting one side and letting the strip of briquettes burn, read about it but never tried. I hooked up my datalogger (Supco SL500TC) and thermocouple to watch the action. Given the long times needed for smoking brisket, I was hoping for at least 8 hours (sleep time) to not fool with the thing.
Here are the briquettes lined up. Two rows on the grate, one row stacked atop of that double row. Lit one end and placed my thermocouple dead center, where a piece of meat would be.