SuSE 8.1 Pro which filesystem to use ?
My 8.1 pro arrived today so I'll be busy installing it tomorrow. I do have a question, however. I read the section on file systems and I'm afraid I'm still at a loss as to which one to use. My Linux machine is a server running an AMD K6/2-500 on an FIC VA-503+ mobo with a Promise Ultra-66 controller and 256Mb RAM. It has 5 HDs drives of various sizes. Currently these are all formatted using ext2. When I get the inevitable power cut and my machine reboots having not been shut down properly , it can take forever to fsck all these drives (they are all large and full of data). So, I've been considering using one of the alternative file systems which are now available to me using 8.1. I've read the manual and am still unsure which would be the best option, ReiserFS, XFS, ext3 or JFS. They all seem to have pros and cons but I cannot decide which is the best for me. My machine acts as a Windows file server, a development machine, an internet server and firewall, a printer server, tape backup server and a groupware server. I need a file system to be robust and not lose any data due to unexpected power cuts, I also need it to be reasonably quick and I'd like the machine to reboot quickly if there is a power failure. XFS looked good in the manual with it being quick but it sounds memory intensive and it says it can easily lose data if shut down unexpectedly. ReiserFS and JFS don't journal file data, only metadata. Ext3 is easy to upgrade to but I get the idea that it doesn't perform too well. Can anyone give me their experiences with these different file systems so I can make a more educated decision. Sean Akers. ----- Sean Akers: sean@akers-online.co.uk
[snip]
mobo with a Promise Ultra-66 controller and 256Mb RAM. It has 5 HDs drives of various sizes. Currently these are all formatted using ext2.
When I get the inevitable power cut and my machine reboots having not been shut down properly , it can take forever to fsck all these drives
[snip]
read the manual and am still unsure which would be the best option, ReiserFS, XFS, ext3 or JFS. They all seem to have pros and cons but I cannot decide which is the best for me.
[snippity snip]
I need a file system to be robust and not lose any data due to unexpected power cuts, I also need it to be reasonably quick and I'd like the machine
I have similar issues where my system would loose power and then spend forever doing the fsck thing. I started using Reiser and have been using it for about a year now (I think it's been that long). Over that time there have been several power losses, and many times I have hit the reset button, and not once have I had a problem with the Linux drives or with lost data. I find the filesystem fast enough that I don't have reason to grumble about it... in fact I don't notice any speed issues at all. Recovery from a messy restart is fast and painless. I've never tried ext3, XFS, or JFS - although I had planned too. Reiser worked too good for me. C.
In short my recommendation is to use ReiserFS if you are creating a new
file system and EXT3 if you want to retain your existing ext2 file systems.
However, I had some problems with ReiserFS which I summarize below:
First, this was on a laptop that had (as I later discovered) a bad memory
module.
I discovered that my ReiserFS was corrupted and could not be repaired when
the file system (eg. root) was mounted. The solution to boot from the
rescue Cd was not possible because of a problem with the removable CD drive
(the CD and floppy were together in a removable "wedge"). I eventually
fixed the CD, booted and was able to repair the file system.
--
Jerry Feldman
Sean Akers wrote:
My machine acts as a Windows file server, a development machine, an internet server and firewall, a printer server, tape backup server and a groupware server.
How about you bought an UPS too? A journaling filesystem is not the ultimate solution against power cuts. Servers should still have UPS, if you really care for the data on that machine. You mentioned groupware. It must have a database of some sort running. You may still lose data in this case, even with a journaling fs. A UPS for one computer is under $100. -- Silviu Marin-Caea Systems Engineer Linux/Unix http://www.genesys.ro Phone +40723-267961
participants (4)
-
Clayton Cornell -
Jerry Feldman -
Sean Akers -
Silviu Marin-Caea