On 2009-03-08_13:41:53, Lists wrote: > Steven Demetrius wrote: >> Paul E Condon wrote: >>> I'd like some confirmation, or refutation, of some reasoning: >>> >>> I have a USB external hard drive. It came with vfat fs, but I want to >>> write an ext2/3 fs on it. All my internal HD are ext3, but should this >>> one be ext3, also? Doesn't ext3 essentially write everything twice, >>> first to the journal, and then to the actual target location? This is >>> OK with an internal bus interface from the CPU to the HD, but USB is >>> not so fast. So I think I should not use ext3 for this HD. Is this >>> correct? >>> >>> TIA >> >> Basically ext3 is ext2 with Journaling. Journaling basically safe-guards >> against power failure and system crashes. It is well suited for system >> partitions and partitions that are being used most of the time your >> computer is on. >> >> Journaling uses significantly more disk space and does not allow for >> deleted file recovery. IT uses more resources that ext2. Journaling does >> not write everything twice. It keeps track of the file system which >> makes recovery fast and more reliable than file systems without >> Journaling. >> >> I recommend the following: >> >> ext3 - for system partitions and data partitions which are in use most >> of the time (/, /home, /var, etc. if they are separate partitions or >> drives). >> >> ext2 - for backup, removable, partitions rarely used, etc. >> >> If your USB external is for backup or file transfers then I recommend >> using the ext2 file system on it. Logic being that if your USB external >> data gets corrupted then you still have a copy of the data on another >> partition. >> >> FYI: >> Some people confuse backup with archiving. They will make copies of >> their data and store it away until they have data problems with the >> system. This is archiving. >> Backup is a never ending routine whether done once a week or one a month >> and also include regular data integrity checks of the backups. >> >> > > Correction: > Journaling file system does write data twice. > ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext3
This is an interesting reference. I think I am convinced that journaling in Linux is -not- a finished story. Thanks for pointing it out. -- Paul E Condon pecon...@mesanetworks.net -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
