BRTFS or EXT4

Maybe I have lost the thread of the conversation but I thought what was being discussed was that using btrfs required certain expertise. I was simply pointing out that you don’t have to learn about it, if you don’t want to. I wasn’t implying that you shouldn’t learn things.

Also, if there something that was supposed to be explained, I would be glad to do it, but I need to know what it is that requires explanation.

I have no idea what this has to do with the choice between btrfs and ext4.

Not if the file system itself is backed up.

Partclone should be a part of all backup strategies IMHO, even if only periodically.

Wide file system support

ls /usr/bin | grep partclone
partclone.btrfs
partclone.chkimg
partclone.dd
partclone.exfat
partclone.ext2
partclone.ext3
partclone.ext4
partclone.ext4dev
partclone.extfs
partclone.f2fs
partclone.fat
partclone.fat12
partclone.fat16
partclone.fat32
partclone.hfs+
partclone.hfsp
partclone.hfsplus
partclone.imager
partclone.info
partclone.minix
partclone.nilfs2
partclone.ntfs
partclone.ntfsfixboot
partclone.ntfsreloc
partclone.reiserfs
partclone.restore
partclone.vfat
partclone.xfs
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I’m aware that it is supported in the installer now. Maybe I worded that somewhat clumsy but that’s essentially the point I wanted to make. If the “new thing” offers the same convenience as the established solution then the “advanced users only”-nature falls away.

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This article also explains some of the caveats of btrfs and raid configurations.

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If you want the benefits without the risks you could try zfs!

Sorry, couldn’t resist. :wink:

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To be even more clear, the places I use btrfs are the places where I can’t use zfs. :rofl:

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I didn’t know there WERE any such places! I was quite prepared for it not making sense, or improving anything some places, but CAN’T?? :grin:

Perhaps…impractical…would be a better word choice than can’t? :sweat_smile:

I suppose for distros which didn’t support zfs I could build the modules and all the tools myself but that is generally more work than I would be interested in. :rofl:

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At least for most of them it wouldn’t be as frequent a rebuild! :grin:

Actually - I just wish a real reason to need zfs, the excuses are a bit thin! It looks better and better the more I learn about it though…

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As I tried it myself:

So, unfortunately, because of each file appears multiple times and Baloo keeps reindexing… I reinstalled Ext4.
Though BTRFS seems really promising, but not for me at the moment.

I read just a bit about it. Looks interesting for me.
As far as I understand from https://itsfoss.com/what-is-zfs/, the features are:

  • Pooled storage (I understand when you add a 1TB Drive, it is added to the existing drive. Am I right?). If I’m right it is amazing for me at least. (I have many external USB drives)
  • Copy-on-write
  • Snapshots (Would this cause a file appear multiple times in a search)
  • Data integrity verification and automatic repair
  • RAID-Z
  • Maximum 16 Exabyte file size
  • Maximum 256 Quadrillion Zettabytes storage

If I’m understanding first feature properly, any guidance or hint how to use it while it is not included during EOS installation?
P.S. Just curious, would a Windows system read from and write to ZFS?

Just install zfs-dkms and zfs-utils. This is all it takes. I suggest you first try it in a virtualbox.

ZFS is most beneficial in a RAID context. ZFS can repair corrupted data on the fly in a redundant environment. And RAID is also good for read/write performance.

ZFS supports encryption. No need to use LUKS or such. In fact all my ZFS datasets are encrypted.

Just after installing my file system automatically changes to ZFS? Data loss?
Am I getting the first point right? And if yes, I just add an additional NTFS USB drive and it becomes ZFS automagically?
Sorry for my silly/stupid questions :disappointed:

No.

zfs-dkms creates the zfs modules for your kernel(s) and zfs-utils are the zfs management tools. There is no automatic conversion or creation of filesystems. like with all other filesystems this is a manual process.

It looks like you are not really familiar with Linux and with filesystems in particular. I strongly suggest that you first read an few tutorials and that you then try it first in a virtual environment like in virtualbox.

You probably want to start with the Arch documentation about ZFS: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ZFS

But there is more to read. e.g.
Aaron Toponce : ZFS Administration, Part I- VDEVs

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Yes, I’m just a user, not that techie.
I am mainly a desktop home user. I am not an IT guy.
I don’t know much.

I will read as much as I can, and learn as much as I can.

Thank you for the links. :+1:

Me too. Actually, many of us are non techie, non IT, home users. I’ve read this response from you several times over the last few days in a number if threads.

You don’t have to tell everyone all the time you are a new user and don’t know much. You’ve made it very clear. Repeating it won’t help you learn, in fact, people who continue to tell themselves negative things like that end up mentally believing it - be it true or not. And continuing to repeat this to everyone will eventually make folks unwilling to continue to help. Nobody wants to help someone who won’t help themselves first.

You have already successfully installed Endeavour which makes you more technically proficient than a good 99+% of all life on this entire planet.

Read, learn, and do the easy stuff first. You’ll be intermediate in no time.

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I believe 1% you are referring to are :frog:s :penguin:s and one :turkey:

:upside_down_face:

Looking around here, frogs and turkeys seem to have all made it to the 1%. . .

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zfs requires some research and time invested. It is not like btrfs. You need to spend time ensuring you have it setup and tuned properly. This is especially important to do up-front because some properties of zfs cannot be changed so if you realize there is a problem later you need to destroy your entire pool and start over.

thanks here such great informative comments. here reading i am getting more learning that in university can give,

appreciate your time thanks.

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