Author Topic: Best file system?  (Read 6153 times)

gazlang

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Best file system?
« on: August 14, 2007, 10:51:58 am »
I notice that the LMCE DVD creates an ext3 filesystem (as default for kubuntu) is this the best file system to use for LMCE?

I'm installing LMCE using the cd's (since I can't install my network card after LMCE has installed) so have a choice of formatting types in the kubuntu install.

I hear that ext3 is sluggish, while xfs is the fastest (I have used xfs primary partition with a ext3 /boot partition.

IS xfs actually better for LMCE??
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dopey

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2007, 12:47:09 am »
XFS is fast, but I wouldn't use it as the OS's filesystem as it has a lot of cache issues making it far less reliable during a crash. I have used XFS for my storage drives as it is very fast at deleting large files, which is very important for Myth and the like. However, I won't do it again. I have lost a lot of files because of XFS and it doesn't have the ability to resize well, so if you use RAID (like lvm2) then it's definitely not the right choice! I think ext3 is a sane choice.

sharlee_angelo

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2007, 09:00:18 am »
if you have a powerful computer you don't have to worry very much about which filesystem  you are using. but, another good recommendation could be reiserfs which gave me better results than ext3.
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gazlang

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2007, 04:49:36 pm »
I did try reiserfs, but didn't like the filesystem checks on every boot (I want to boot as fast as poss, and don't need to see lots of info about my filesystem!)
Think i'll stick with ext3 for the OS and xfs for my media partition.
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Zaerc

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2007, 05:38:45 pm »
One way to avoid filesystems check for ext3 filesystems on every reboot is to set the maximum mount count to 0 for those partitions.
Code: [Select]
tune2fs -c0 /dev/hda1
Replace "/dev/hda1" with the partition you want to do this on.  Probably not what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
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gazlang

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2007, 05:48:19 pm »
Is that only for ext3 fs?
I notice that ext3 performs a forced file system check every 20 something mounts, does setting the maximum mount count to 0 stop this?

Also, sharlee, whats a 'fast system'?
I have an athlon 4200+; 2x512mb corsair value ram; and a 400gb HDD
would I notice a lag using ext3 over xfs with this??
AMD Athlon 5800+ X2
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2x Corsair XMS6400 DDR2 512mb
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Zaerc

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Re: Best file system?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2007, 06:02:43 pm »
Is that only for ext3 fs?
I notice that ext3 performs a forced file system check every 20 something mounts, does setting the maximum mount count to 0 stop this?
...

Well ext2 too, but personally I wouldn't set it to 0 on an ext2fs.

And yes, that is exactly what it does, I have noticed that LMCE has a tendency to remount certain partitions a lot, causing them to go over this count on every reboot.  If you don't change other settings they will still be checked but after 180 days (IIRC) which I think is still a good idea.
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