[Tfug] An Ext4 question...

[Brian Murphy]

Quoting Jim March <1.jim.march at gmail.com>:
> Does anybody know what happens when you stash a huge number of tiny
> files in Ext4?  Does it store them efficiently the way ReiserFS does?

ext4 doesn't do block suballocation like reiserfs.

> I ask because I'm running into limitations on mailbox sized with
> Thunderbird and MBox, and was considering jumping to something based
> on MailDir, which as far as I can tell has bigger mailbox limits than
> MBox.  But given MailDir's approach of one file per message, block
> size issues will get really wild'n'wooly unless Ext4 handles that
> better.

Block size is set at mkfs time.  You'll commonly run into 4k block sizes
for a decent sized filesystem.  The command to check is:

dumpe2fs -h /dev/sda1 | grep 'Block size'

(substitute your device for /dev/sda1)

IMO, with html mail, lists, and attachments, most of your emails will be
over 4k.  Even a 1 line email with headers could approach 2k.  Use
Reiser if it's a big concern for you.

> Thoughts?

Why copy PhxLUG?  Where's the Tucson faith? ;-)

Brian


The opinions or statements expressed herein are my own and should not be
taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of the University of
Arizona.