Which file system?

[Shohan]

I just downloaded Mandrake 9.2 and Move. Move is very neat. I upgraded my previous 9.1 to the new 9.2. Well, there are a few problems and I am just going to reinstall. No big problem. I have been using Ext3 but now there are a few more options and I am not up on my game. I use Linux primarily for my own experience not as a primary OS or for any specific reason. So which of the FS offered is better? Could someone give me a quick run down of each? I don't need anything mind numbingly geek but I would like to know the differences.

Thanks!!!

Here are the options I am given:

Linux native
JFS: Ext2
JFS: Ext3
JFS: JFS
JFS: XFS

 

[jj3301]

This was covered in one of the Linux magazines a while ago. The following is not a definitive explanation, but here goes:

Linux native is normally synonymous with ext2. Not a journalling FS but it's the performance benchmark.

ext3 is ext2 with added journalling, so (IIRC) it's possible to convert ext2 to ext3. It may be possible to drop the journals and still view it as if it is ext2, but this is speculation (Comments, anybody?). Being ext2-based, ext3 is a bit of a kludge so performance is compromised.

XFS and JFS are from (IIRC) IBM and SGI respectively, so may be regarded as having a strong technical background. You missed ReiserFS from your list. Like XFS and JFS, written as a JFS from scratch so performance is better than ext3.

In general journalling FSs are not as quick as ext2 but it's not noticable for most people. Unfortunately I cannot remember the conclusions reached in the article about which of them was quickest or most secure - sorry.

I use R(eiser)FS and have had no problems - recovering from a crash has been trouble-free and delightfully quick. I believe that the only restriction on journalling FSs is that you cannot use one on your boot partition; use ext2 instead. I always create a small boot partion and use RFS for my root partition.

Hope this helps.

 

[Shohan]

Thanks! It shed more light then anything I found trying to research it myself.

 

[thedaver]

Feed your brain this one...

http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-10/jfs_01.html

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[jj3301]

Thanks for the link - that looks like the article i remember. Hmm it _was_ a while ago, wasn't it?

The article confirms that ext3 is both forward- and backward-compatible with ext2. Apologies, I got the origins of XFS and JFS switched round, and it seems that journalling FSs can be even faster than ext2, especially for small or very large files. It's worth reading this article.