Re: [patch] ext2/3: document conditions when reliable operation is possible

From: Rob Landley
Date: Wed Aug 26 2009 - 23:16:51 EST


On Tuesday 25 August 2009 08:42:10 Alan Cox wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:37:12 -0400
>
> Ric Wheeler <rwheeler@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I really think that the expectation that all OS's (windows, mac, even
> > your ipod) all teach you not to hot unplug a device with any file system.
> > Users have an "eject" or "safe unload" in windows, your iPod tells you
> > not to power off or disconnect, etc.
>
> Agreed

Ok, I'll bite: What are journaling filesystems _for_?

> > I don't object to making that general statement - "Don't hot unplug a
> > device with an active file system or actively used raw device" - but
> > would object to the overly general statement about ext3 not working on
> > flash, RAID5 not working, etc...
>
> The overall general statement for all media and all OS's should be
>
> "Do you have a backup, have you tested it recently"

It might be nice to know when you _needed_ said backup, and when you shouldn't
re-backup bad data over it, because your data corruption actually got detected
before then.

And maybe a pony.

Rob
--
Latency is more important than throughput. It's that simple. - Linus Torvalds
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