XFS
lastmod 2017-01-22created 2017-01-172 edits
XFS is a high-performance 64-bit journaling file system created by Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 1993. Starting with version 5.3, it was the default file system of SGI's IRIX operating system, and in 2001 it was ported to the Linux kernel. As of June 2014, XFS is supported by most Linux distributions, some of which have adopted it as the default file system.
Key features
- Large-capacity file system: as a 64-bit file system, supports up to 9 million TB
- Journaling (fast recovery): fast recovery and restart from unexpected situations regardless of the number of files
- Fast transactions: read/write
- High scalability
Pros and cons
- It is a 64Bit Filesystem
- In theory, supports up to 9 million TB on a 64Bit OS. Up to 16TB on a 32Bit OS
- Many usable inodes. Can create 8 times more inodes than EXT3 at the same capacity
- The file system can be expanded even while mounted, using the xfs_growfs utility.
- Very fast file system creation (format) speed.
- File system checks are fast because they target only inodes in use. (EXT3 checks even the unused parts.)
- File deletion under the same conditions is also about 2.5 times faster than EXT3.
- Stable. Proven at many commercial sites.
Cons
- Slow with small files. For lots of small files, the JFS file system performs better.
- The file system can be expanded but not shrunk. (Since you have to make a backup for data integrity anyway, shrinking is meaningless on other file systems too.)
- Since it is not a mainstream file system, portability is somewhat lower.
- When a problem occurs in the file system, kernel messages may not come through properly.
- No debug option. Therefore, deleted files cannot be recovered.
- A separate daemon handles management.