Tips for managing Linux filesystems
Blockwise
© Lead Image © Dmitry Sunagatov, Fotolia.com
Even with all the talk of Big Data and the storage revolution, a steady and reliable block-based filesystem is still a central feature of most Linux systems.
Linux is an operating system for lovers of variety, and filesystems are no exception: The range of filesystem options extends from block-based filesystems to temporary filesystems in RAM or pseudo filesystems. This workshop offers some tips for managing a filesystem in Linux.
Block-based filesystems are the most important components for storing data on disk. The best way to imagine a filesystem is like a kind of library that stores data efficiently and in a structured way. Almost every Linux system has at least one block-based filesystem, such as Ext4, XFS, or Btrfs. You have several filesystems to choose from on Linux, and you have probably had some experience with at least the Ext series. If you work with a current distribution, you are likely to have met other filesystems, too. Table 1 shows the standard filesystem for some leading Linux distributions.
Current filesystems are very similar, but they differ in some of the details. You will encounter the following terms when your work with Linux filesystems:
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