How to Decide on an Upgrade to the Ext4 File System
Do some research into each version., Examine the system which you already have, and list the problems you are having with it., Decide if the switch from block mapping to extents will benefit you., Think of the potential for data loss when the power...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Do some research into each version.
Then check other versions to see whether they will solve these issues. , The extents are the name for the region of contiguous physical blocks, and is likely to be of benefit for those that store the large media, and the resulting reduction of file fragmentation. , When you make use of ext2, ext3 but not ext4
- more of the data when you do the write cycle has been immediately put on the hard disk and is safe from the outage of power corruption.
However
- due to the implementation of persistent pre-allocation, the ext4 version may respond faster with the increased risk of loss of data, as write-back to the physical disk has a delay. , Are you currently near, or in danger of a breach, of the 32,000 sub-directory limit? Then you may consider ext4 journal system, as it has the benefit of raising this limit by a factor of two.
This is most unlikely for the regular user. , Due to implementation of ext2 and ext3 system, there is a great limit on the ability to reduce the occurrence of fragmentation.
Implementation of ext4 has work around for this, so if you suffer from the fragment than you can consider this the positive. ,,, Do you have a mission-critical system that relies on timestamp for some reason? The ext4 journal system has now a measurement of timestamp accurate to the nanosecond. , -
Step 2: Examine the system which you already have
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Step 3: and list the problems you are having with it.
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Step 4: Decide if the switch from block mapping to extents will benefit you.
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Step 5: Think of the potential for data loss when the power loss does occur.
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Step 6: Do the depth parse of your current system.
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Step 7: Do the fragmentation parse of your current system to make checks of physical locations of logical data groups.
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Step 8: Have consideration for the interruption to the system as there will be much time involved in the following process: A backup of the data A format of target disk A reinstall of system A configuration of system A restoration of data A check of system
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Step 9: Consider the likely future upgrade to the system
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Step 10: as a backport may not be entirely necessary
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Step 11: and a consumption of too much time
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Step 12: if you intend to do the complete reinstall (as apposed to just the simple upgrade) of the system to new supported operating kernel.
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Step 13: Examine your need of granularity of timestamp that is pressed on to files.
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Step 14: If will you have a requirement for the system to be operational post 2038 then the consideration shall be great
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Step 15: as 2 bits of the expanded timestamp field are added to the most significant bits of the seconds field of the timestamps to defer the year 2038 problem to be the problem in 2538 instead
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Step 16: with minimal additional data consumption.
Detailed Guide
Then check other versions to see whether they will solve these issues. , The extents are the name for the region of contiguous physical blocks, and is likely to be of benefit for those that store the large media, and the resulting reduction of file fragmentation. , When you make use of ext2, ext3 but not ext4
- more of the data when you do the write cycle has been immediately put on the hard disk and is safe from the outage of power corruption.
However
- due to the implementation of persistent pre-allocation, the ext4 version may respond faster with the increased risk of loss of data, as write-back to the physical disk has a delay. , Are you currently near, or in danger of a breach, of the 32,000 sub-directory limit? Then you may consider ext4 journal system, as it has the benefit of raising this limit by a factor of two.
This is most unlikely for the regular user. , Due to implementation of ext2 and ext3 system, there is a great limit on the ability to reduce the occurrence of fragmentation.
Implementation of ext4 has work around for this, so if you suffer from the fragment than you can consider this the positive. ,,, Do you have a mission-critical system that relies on timestamp for some reason? The ext4 journal system has now a measurement of timestamp accurate to the nanosecond. ,
About the Author
Edward King
With a background in educational content, Edward King brings 1 years of hands-on experience to every article. Edward believes in making complex topics accessible to everyone.
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