Thread: Which file system do i have to choose?

Which file system do i have to choose?

From
Markus Rebbert
Date:
Hi list,

i got an postgresql installation on linux (debian) with the htree
partitions:
1- system
2- postgresql data files
3- postgresql WAL logs(pg_xferlog)

Our standard file system is ext3. Now i heard, xfs is better for the
data files.
Is that correct, and if, why?
Or which file system is better for the postgresql installation? Do you
have preferences?

best regards,
Markus

--
Markus Rebbert <markus.rebbert@freenet.de>


Re: Which file system do i have to choose?

From
Shridhar Daithankar
Date:
On Thursday 18 December 2003 17:40, Markus Rebbert wrote:
> Hi list,
>
> i got an postgresql installation on linux (debian) with the htree
> partitions:
> 1- system
> 2- postgresql data files
> 3- postgresql WAL logs(pg_xferlog)

First of all, YMMV. reiserfs/XFS/JFS are all good and fast. Ext3 might lag
behind them in certain configurations. Besides on some RAID configs and
controllers, JFS performs better. So you really need to test.
>
> Our standard file system is ext3. Now i heard, xfs is better for the
> data files.
> Is that correct, and if, why?

XFS handles large files much better. Reiserfs handles small files much
better(With V4, it is roumoured to be good all along but linux 2.6 is not yet
widespread..)

With Ext3, you need to configure correctly what you journal and how. I don't
know much about ext3 but some configs are rather slower than others. So tune
it correctly.

> Or which file system is better for the postgresql installation? Do you
> have preferences?

That is almost a flamebait. Best thing you can do is benchmark yourself and
determine. For help you can search archives of performance list.

 Shridhar