What the best file system for me
 

I've read some reviews of file system,the XFS and ReiserFS seem to match for me.

My old machine is: CPU - Celeron 2.26 Ghz, and my work is only use Gimp + OpenOffice.

Review article said: XFS is fast and use slightly CPU , ReiserFS faster than Ext3.
XFS use for application which load medium and large file, and ReiserFS for application which load small files.

So, i need speed when i work, not want my machine run slowly. But dont know Gimp, OpenOffice use small file or medium file ?

BTW, when i install Slack 12, it has some option for me: install on Ext 2-3, ReiserFS, XFS,..... ReiserFS in the option is v3 or v4 ?

I have used reiserfs and xfs and my mere mortal eyes surely can't tell a bit of difference.

First, you should understand your machine does not run from HDD but from RAM. Actually, RAM was invented because the HDD is too slow. Differences in filesystem speed won't be noticeable during normal computer use.
Second, ext3 is not slower than ReiserFS. ReiserFS is a pita to recover if it gets corrupted, and it gets corrupted easily in case of power loss.

I don't know how difficult it is to recover, but I've never had any corruption upon power loss. I now have a UPS just in case, but both ext3 and reiserfs have worked perfectly for me (I've never had any corruption on computers running one of each of the two filesystems, which have crashed because of a power loss).

Applications like Gimp and OpenOffice would use small files, by file system standards. Reiser 4 is still in development, so Slackware would offer Reiser 3. I don't think any distributions offer Reiser 4 yet, at least not for production machines!

I use the JFS on my Slackware boxes and love it. I've found that my computers are more responsive than when I use ext3.

If you don't really need journaling then ext2 would be a little faster than ext3 or reiserfs. As previously mentioned, however, you probably won't notice the difference, so ext3 should be fine.

If you are worried about speed with GIMP and OpenOffice, I recommend looking to upgrade your memory as much as you can (especially if you do lots of involved work with GIMP). Be sure to configure GIMP so it makes the best use of your resources.

I too used reiserfs for many years.
Then I switched to XFS and noticed a lot less hard disk trashing.
The disks are quieter and the system feels a lot smoother.
Yeah, faster too.

So I've been using XFS on all my computers for last two years and am very happy with.
I was very unimpressed with ext3.
I will try JFS one of these days but it looks like it's simmilar to XFS but with less features.

Go with XFS, you will not be sorry!

Here's the benchmarks that convinced me. I guess they're not professional, but after much searching, there are no better or more comprehensive ones that I've found:
http://linuxgazette.net/122/piszcz.html

Overall JFS is the best one. Either way, if you want to deal with large files JFS and XFS are the only recommended ones. I've tried them all, and I think my experiences fit with the benchmarks quite well.

I agree. I run Slackware Linux on older hardware. I am happy that I followed your advice awhile ago and adopt the JFS for my units. I've seen my CPU usage decline quite a bit as a result of using the JFS.

Depends on your work. Gimp can handle VERY big files (tiff) for example or from jpg from your digital camera.

I believe that you don't open / save a 100Mb openoffice file :)

The big programs (like gimp / openffice) usually have many small files.

From the link (benchmark) I see that ext3 and jfs OVERALL are close (example untar kernel source)

Since all filesystem are pretty the same speed-wise, I prefer the more reliable and to have the correct amount of RAM.

Most of the time I am waiting in creation and deletion of large files >200Mbytes < 4Gbytes, find and rsync.

I consider the Celeron 2Ghz very fast compared (for file system access) to a PIII. Of course you will gain more with a faster disk :D

By the way. I read that journaling systems are not healthy for flash disks. They are reliable not journaling filesystems? (ext2 is considered reliable?)

In theory you don't need a journalizing FS on a flash device since data is written to it immediately rather than having to wait for the drive to sync up and clear the cache. So data loss from a power outage should not happen even with EXT2.

That doesn't take into account other forms of corruption like software failures, though.

I'm using JFS too and really like it.

-Drew

i still use ext2 - its reliable and unlike some of the ext3 horrors i have seen, corrupted journel = wiped disc :/ oh and ufs on bsd box :)