I read further (and closer) into the install guide for Gentoo. It is very through (so far), and describes the 4 main options for File systems (ext3, Reiser, XFX, and JFS), and where/when it would be best to use each.
Turns out that XFS is a higher end file system for use with firewire or other high performance drives. So, I've settled on the recommended file systems (ext3 for the boot partition, and Reiser for my root partition) - mostly because it makes sense (not just because it said so). Ext3 for the boot partition because it isn't likely to change too often, removing the need for journaling - but, I'd like the drive to be stable/recoverable in the event of a crash. And Reiser for the root partition because it WILL see the most activity, and journaling will be required there, and will be dealing with a number of small files (which turn out to be approx 4 KB or smaller according to the documentation). Yep, turns out that I'm learning a fair bit working through the Gentoo install. But in the end, I think I'll be better off because of it. Thanks for the support though!! <grins> Shawn -----Original Message----- From: Shawn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 10:57 PM To: CLUG (E-mail) Subject: (clug-talk) Another File System question. Ok, I've followed the discussion, and reviewed the links that were posted in response to my original question, and I'm still not clear which FS would be the "right" choice in my case. As near as I can tell, Reiser handles small files well. XFS apparently does an adequate job of small to medium sized files, but really excels at large files. What exactly constitutes a "medium" file? I'd assume a file size of a few bytes or kilobytes would be small, and 100 MB would be large. But would a 3 MB file be considered large? Medium? Small? For my purposes, I'm looking for the "right" (if there is any single correct answer) file system for a server running Apache, Postfix, and Samba, and possibly FTP (though I don't think that figures into the decision much). Most of the web pages would be very small , but I may choose to store my MP3 collection there and maybe access it via the Internet, or place some high resolution/dpi images on my pages. In this case, would Reiser be the better solution because it handles small files better, and suffer, if needed, when accessing larger files? Or would XFS be the better choice because it is adequate with small files, and best for large files? The articles I've read are a bit out of date, so I'm not sure if my conclusions are valid. Have the performance and upper limits of the file systems changed? (XFS can hold more overall, and the largest file size it can create is better than Reiser). Currently, I'm leaning towards Reiser because it looks as though it has a wider user base (aka more community support). And it'll likely meet my meager needs. Comments are welcomed. And thanks for the entertaining, and educational discussions.... Shawn
