Re: Linux filesystems was [Re: Debian cd supporting ext4.]
Lisi put forth on 7/27/2010 2:23 AM:
> On Tuesday 27 July 2010 08:10:15 Stan Hoeppner wrote:
>> XFS which is superior to all other Linux filesystems.
>
> Stan -
>
> Have you the time to give a rationale for this?
Sure.
1. Best overall performance for most systems, large and small, and the FS
creation and mounting parameters are super configurable to match the system
hardware for best performance. One recent set of recent benchmarks
demonstrating so:
http://btrfs.boxacle.net/repository/raid/2010-04-14_2004/2.6.34-rc3/2.6.34-rc3.html
man mkfs.xfs
man mount
Older benchmarks:
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/388
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1479435
In regard to this last benchmark, some(many?) of the default XFS filesystem
creation parameters and mounting parameters have changed. Note the testing
was performed in 2005. A lot changes in 5 years. Read all you can and ask
questions on the XFS mailing list before tweaking parameters based on what you
find in old forum posts and benchmarks such as this.
Guaranteed Rate I/O for streaming and other critical applications--unique to
XFS amongst all filesytems, ever, not just on Linux--this feature was born on
IRIX XFS for the broadcasting industry where video stutter was basically death
to a TV station or network such as CNN, CBS, etc. This single feature from
SGI allowed broadcast media to wholesale convert from tape to disk (this and
SGI FC storage arrays)
2. Commercial origin and backing. SGI is a fantastic technology compay:
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/
3. Maturity/history/longevity, IRIX birth in 1993, Linux birth 2001, included
in mainline in late 2003:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFS
http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=107088371607817&w=2
4. Equal/superior user space toolset:
xfsprogs - includes online defragmentation tool xfs_fsr and online growth tool
xfs_growfs. No other stable Linux FS has an online defragmenter. Ext4 has
e4defrag but AFAIK it's not complete nor close to maturity or stability.
xfs_fsr has been both for a decade.
5. Very active developer community and thorough documentation:
http://xfs.org/index.php/Main_Page
> I'm not in any way impugning your knowledge. But I am at the stage of
> accepting the default that Lenny gives me, for no better reason than that the
> developers chose it and it is there. It is time I understood better the
> reasons for each file system. (I gave up Reiserfs because Reiser murdered
> his wife - hardly a logical measure of how good his filesystem is!!)
Debian will _always_ default to an EXT* filesystem--until the end of time.
Then again, I thought the same of LILO, so what do I know eh? But expert
install mode allows you whatever you want. I never cared for ReiserFS and
never used it. Hans actions are just further justification after the fact.
I've only used XFS on servers. I've never used it on laptops or desktops. I
know of many people who have, but they are die hard propeller heads and know
how to fix anything if/when it breaks. If you want to run XFS on a laptop or
desktop, especially on Debian, your only downside is going to be getting quick
help, if you get jammed, from folks on this list, or the community in general.
That process will probably not be as quick and fruitful as with EXT2/3
issues, simply because there are a lot less people using XFS, thus the pool of
helpers is much smaller.
If you're adventurous, take XFS for a spin. Partition a 100MB /boot and
install everything else on a big partition running XFS. And, learn the
utility set, and learn about XFS, just as you have (or should have) with
EXT2/3 and ReiserFS. As always, knowledge is power.
--
Stan
Reply to: