[mythtv-users] ext4 vs XFS for mythbuntu

Rod Smith mythtv at rodsbooks.com
Thu Jan 22 03:48:42 UTC 2009


On Wednesday 21 January 2009 01:22:37 pm Misty P wrote:
> I'm a fan of JFS.  I figure if Big Blue banged on it and was happy with it,
> it's probably good enough for my lowly needs!

Be aware that there can be platform-specific problems with any filesystem. A 
few years ago, I discovered that one filesystem (I *THINK* it was JFS, but 
I'm not positive of that) was good and stable on 32-bit x86, but that it was 
unbearably slow on 64-bit x86-64. I'm not talking about a little 10% 
slowdown, either, I'm talking about operations (mass deletes, IIRC) that took 
about 10-50 times as long with a 64-bit kernel as with a 32-bit kernel.

This was about four years ago, so it doesn't apply to today's code. I advise 
keeping the general principle in mind, though; filesystems seem to be 
susceptible to platform-specific bugs and quirks, so when evaluating a new 
filesystem's stability and speed based on Internet reports, be sure to check 
the reporters' platforms.

-- 
Rod Smith


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