Ext3 and Reiserfs are bad Linux file systems.

Source: Internet
Author: User

For Linux users, you must be familiar with Ext3 and Reiserfs as Linux file systems. Do you know the advantages and disadvantages of Ext3 and Reiserfs file systems? This article explains the advantages and disadvantages of Ext3 and Reiserfs in Linux.

A file system is a directory structure that includes storage devices or partitions. Generally, an application storage device can contain one or more file systems. Generally speaking, a file system stores files or data in an organized manner, with the aim of making it easy for the operating system to query and access data. Common file systems include FAT3, NTFS, Ext3, and Reiserfs. However, different operating systems support different file systems. Taking Linux as an example, it mainly supports file systems such as Ext2, Ext3, and Reiserfs.

As a Linux system engineer, you must understand the characteristics of each file system. Then, select an appropriate file system based on the actual application scenario. Different file systems have different features, which often determine the attributes of files and directories in the file system. Each file system has a series of tools, including creation, repair, and backup. It is worth noting that most file systems have self-repair tools. In case of accidental damage to your file system, use the built-in repair function of the file system to fix the problem. In this article, I will briefly introduce the features of Ext3 and Reiserfs file systems and analyze their advantages and disadvantages. We hope this will help you eliminate the confusion in choosing a file system.

1. Ext3 file system.

Ext2 is an authentic Linux File System, and ext2 was used in earlier Linux versions. However, with the development of technology, most Linux distributions do not currently use this file system, and most of them are recommended to use ext3 file systems. The Ext3 file system is developed by ext2. In the Ext3 File System Used in Linux, files are stored in blocks. By default, the size of each block is 1 K. Different blocks are distinguished by block numbers. Each file has a node. The node contains useful information such as the file owner, read/write permission, and file type. For a file smaller than 12 blocks, the block number of the file data block is directly stored in the node. If the file contains more than 12 blocks, the node stores an indirect block number after 12 blocks. In the block corresponding to this indirect block number, it stores the block number of 256 file data blocks. If a larger file exists, the second-level indirect block and third-level indirect block appear in the node. Therefore, the Ext3 file system supports large files. However, anti-deletion is not supported.

Ii. Reiserfs file system.

The Reiserfs file system is an excellent file system that supports large files and reverse deletion. He is also an old file system. But he is not discarded like the Ext2 file system. This file system is still widely used and has great vitality. This is mainly because the file system has excellent performance.

For example, this file system has a relatively advanced log management mechanism. Its log management mechanism ensures that the corresponding logs have been written to the hard disk before each actual data modification. In this case, the security of files and data is greatly improved. For example, in such a file system, the disk utilization is very high. The Reiserfs file system does not allocate inode to some small files. Instead, these files are packaged and stored in the same disk block. Other file systems place each small file in one disk block. That is to say, if there are 20000 small files, it will occupy 20000 parts. This is a waste of disk space. This is better than NTFS file system design. In addition, it supports a large number of hard disks. The ReiserFS file system allows you to easily manage files of up to GB and supports a maximum file system size of 16 TB. Therefore, in some large Linux servers, this file system is the first choice.

In addition, the Reiserfs file system also has outstanding performance. For example, file location is fast. The Reiserfs file system is based on the quick balancing tree search. The Balance Tree has excellent performance. It is a very efficient search algorithm. When the Reiserfs File System Searches for files in a large number of files, the search speed is much faster than that of other file systems. The Reiserfs file system uses B * Tree to store files, while other file systems use B + Tree. B * Tree query is much faster than B + Tree. Therefore, the Reiserfs file system is very fast in file location. Its superior performance is also manifested in its storage. Reiserfs file system, which provides efficient and fast data, and even input and output of small file hard disks. Computers that use the Reiserfs file system spend much less time starting the X Window System than using other file systems on the same machine. Iii. Comparison of Automatic repair capabilities.

Both Ext3 and Reiserfs can automatically repair damaged file systems. What they have in common is that they will detect the file system at startup and will automatically recover if any damage occurs. In fact, other file systems, such as Ext2 or FAT32, also support this function. However, their performance is different. Generally, the Reiserfs file system performs better than other file systems.

For example, for the Ext3 file system, the Administrator sometimes has to manually use The fsck command to repair the file system. For example, if the system administrator selects the single-user mode and puts the system into the lost + found directory. If the system administrator wants to restore the file system, he must manually use The fsck file system repair command. However, this file system repair command has certain management risks. If an unexpected shutdown or power failure occurs during the repair process, it may cause some inexplicable problems. In addition, the ext3 file system also has several backup Super blocks. The system administrator can try to use the backup super block to load the ext3 file system and repair the ext3 file system. Although this operation is complex, it is very useful in actual work. If you have the opportunity in the future, I will introduce in detail how to use the backup super block to restore this file system.

The Reiserfs file system can also automatically repair damaged file systems. However, it is relatively easy to operate. This file system has strong functions in automatic detection and repair of damaged file systems. For example, the restoration speed is much faster than the ext3 file system. In addition, the Reiserfs file system can handle unexpected power outages. For example, I did a simple test and installed the same Linux operating system on two identical machines. They only use different file systems. However, in the Ext3 file system, if you directly unplug the power to shut down and restart the system, you need to manually use The fsck command to restore the file system. However, if the Reiserfs file system is used, the file system can be automatically repaired without the fsck command.

4. Ext3 does not support this anti-delete operation, so the security is relatively higher.

God will forgive young people for making mistakes. Unfortunately, some are not God. For example, once you delete a file and clear the recycle bin at the same time, you will no longer be able to restore the deleted file. This is a big blow to people like the author who install, delete, and use software for entertainment. However, from another perspective, if the deleted file can still be saved, it will involve security issues. Therefore, if you consider security, you can support reverse deletion of the file system, but it is not good for security.

The reiserfs file system supports reverse deletion. If the enterprise's security level is relatively high, it is likely to be insecure. Even if the user deletes the file and clears the recycle bin, the system administrator can still restore the deleted file by using some anti-deletion tools. This may expose confidential information of the enterprise. The Ext3 file system does not support reverse deletion. In the ext3 file system, once a user deletes a confidential file, it cannot be recovered. Although some people say that the deleted files can be restored in the Ext3 file system, I know that there are not many possibilities for success. Therefore, it is better to use the Ext3 File System for file security considerations.

V. File System Establishment and maintenance.

Hard disk formatting is the process of creating a file system for the storage device. In general, each type of operating system has tools for this purpose, as well as third-party tools with multiple features, such as PQ software. However, the author suggests that the system administrator should use the tool provided by the operating system to initialize partitions, that is, to create a file system. For example, The mkfs tool is included in the Linux operating system. It helps the System Administrator establish a file system.

In addition, we can use third-party tools such as PQ software to partition the hard disk first. Then, use the formatting tool provided by the operating system for formatting. For the sake of system stability, I strongly recommend that you use the built-in formatting tool of Linux to reformat the file system, whether it is a formatted file system or not.

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