Tiny Core Linux

General TC => General TC Talk => Topic started by: ndrancs on May 29, 2012, 07:26:15 AM

Title: Btrfs ?
Post by: ndrancs on May 29, 2012, 07:26:15 AM
Hi all
Can we add a btrfs to tc v4.5.3?
if can how to compile it?
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: bmarkus on May 29, 2012, 07:34:09 AM
As far as I know brtfs is not stable in 3.0 kernel, better to build a custom 3.3 or 3.4 kernel.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Laudan on February 28, 2013, 09:02:29 AM
As far as I know brtfs is not stable in 3.0 kernel, better to build a custom 3.3 or 3.4 kernel.

Yes, I had seen that already. I was hoping for some more up-to-date stuff.

I think it is not wrong promoting Btrfs in TinyCore, because this filesystem is said to be the next big thing in Linux, about to displace the ext family.

Cheers
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: ndrancs on March 06, 2013, 06:34:45 AM
any btrfs information update?  :)
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Juanito on March 06, 2013, 06:47:38 AM
there is a request for features for the kernel for the next major version of tinycore - you could add your request for btrfs to the list:

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,14983.0.html
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: curaga on March 06, 2013, 12:11:56 PM
Even in latest 3.9-rc1, btrfs is still marked as having unstable disk format.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Rich on March 06, 2013, 12:50:17 PM
Hi Laudan
Quote
because this filesystem is said to be the next big thing in Linux, about to displace the ext family.
Sorry, but when I read a statement phrased that way, two words come to mind, buzz and fad. As far as I'm
concerned, file systems are no place for the latest fad just because some people may be buzzing about it.
Just my 2 cents.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: bmarkus on March 06, 2013, 12:54:09 PM
Lets go back to the basics. Why do we need brtfs in Core? What brts offers (in the future) for a typical Core use what other file systems don't? Or it's just fun?
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Rich on March 06, 2013, 01:27:31 PM
Hi bmarkus
Very good questions and right on the mark. Quoting from: https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page
Quote
Linux has a wealth of filesystems from which to choose, but we are facing a number of challenges with scaling to the large storage subsystems that are becoming common in today's data centers. Filesystems need to scale in their ability to address and manage large storage, and also in their ability to detect, repair and tolerate errors in the data stored on disk.
I would hazard to guess that the majority of Tinycore installations are not running   "large storage subsystems"   in
"data centers"   but rather run on desktop, laptop, or portable USB installations and have no need for this, though
I could be mistaken. Having said that, there's probably no harm in including that option provided it is clearly marked
as   "experimental and possibly unstable, may cause data corruption, use at your own risk"   or something similar.
This would allow those individuals who are interested to experiment with it.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Lee on March 06, 2013, 02:44:21 PM
As I tend to lag a little behind the state of the art, especially in hardware, I may be a little out of date.  What constitutes a "large storage subsystem" these days?  Does that mean a 1 TB single drive, or something bigger, maybe with RAID?

The biggest single device I have (at home) is a 1 TB SATA drive which I partitioned into two big partitions and a third very small partition, all formatted with ext2.  Not withstanding that I probably should have used something with journaling, is there something lacking in ext2 that would be provided by btrfs (when stable)?

Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: tinypoodle on March 06, 2013, 02:51:30 PM
Having said that, there's probably no harm in including that option provided it is clearly marked
as   "experimental and possibly unstable, may cause data corruption, use at your own risk"   or something similar.
...and besides from all of the above has no convincingly sufficient fsck utility as of yet.
(Though same would be the case for ntfs-3g/ntfsprogs, but there it is assumed users could access a different OS with such capabilities).
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: bmarkus on March 06, 2013, 03:08:32 PM

The biggest single device I have (at home) is a 1 TB SATA drive which I partitioned into two big partitions and a third very small partition, all formatted with ext2.  Not withstanding that I probably should have used something with journaling, is there something lacking in ext2 that would be provided by btrfs (when stable)?

All with ext2? A production system with no journaling fs? You are a brave guy!
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Rich on March 06, 2013, 03:32:48 PM
Hi Lee
Quote
What constitutes a "large storage subsystem" these days?
Kept in context with   "data centers"   I'm guessing something that requires its own circuit breaker. ::)
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Lee on March 06, 2013, 05:24:36 PM
Quote
You are a brave guy!

No - probably just dumb.     ::)

Shall I take that as a recommendation to update to ext4?


Quote
Kept in context with   "data center"   I'm guessing something that requires its own circuit breaker.

Well... I call it my "data center", but only tongue-in-cheek - its my basement.  On the other hand, that -is- where I learned how to install new circuit breakers... Who knew it was that easy?  I had a 30x25 foot cellar with a whopping -two- electrical outlets!
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: bmarkus on March 07, 2013, 01:08:25 AM
Quote
You are a brave guy!

Shall I take that as a recommendation to update to ext4?


Yes. A journaling file system like ext4 can recover you file system after after loss of power of pusing reset button at 3 A.M accidently :) for example without loosing data. ext2 can't.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: curaga on March 07, 2013, 04:56:57 AM
Or at least ext3. Both upgrades can be done without reformatting: https://ext4.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Ext4_Howto#Converting_an_ext3_filesystem_to_ext4

Just by using tune2fs on the unmounted fs and running fsck afterwards.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: gerald_clark on March 07, 2013, 10:00:23 AM
You can add a journal to ext2, converting it into ext3 with tune2fs.
Make sure it is not mounted first.
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Lee on March 07, 2013, 04:54:06 PM
I tank you gentlemen for your advice and encouragement.

I've followed the steps given in the link provided by curaga and one of my file systems is now ext4.  It wasn't very full so I moved all the data off of it first.  If it doesn't blow up or otherwise cause problems, I'll do the other data partition soon.

Is there any reason -not- to do the same to the much smaller (3 GB) boot partition?
Title: Re: Btrfs ?
Post by: Rich on March 07, 2013, 05:03:56 PM
Hi Lee
Quote
Is there any reason -not- to do the same to the much smaller (3 GB) boot partition?
None comes to mind.