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</tr> |
</tr> |
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<tr> |
<tr> |
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<th>ext4</th> |
<th>ext4</th> |
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<td style="background-color: rgb(255,0,0)">No***</td> |
<td style="background-color: rgb(255,127,0)">3rd party driver</td> |
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<td style="background-color: rgb(0,255,0)">Native</td> |
<td style="background-color: rgb(0,255,0)">Native</td> |
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<td style="background-color: rgb(255,127,0)">16 GB-16 TB*</td> |
<td style="background-color: rgb(255,127,0)">16 GB-16 TB*</td> |
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<td style="background-color: rgb(0,255,0)">Yes</td> |
<td style="background-color: rgb(0,255,0)">Yes</td> |
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NTFS Native Included 16 EB Yes Yes |
NTFS Native Included 16 EB Yes Yes |
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ext2 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* No Yes |
ext2 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* No Yes |
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ext3 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* Yes Yes |
ext3 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-2 TB* Yes Yes |
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ext4 No*** Native 16 GB-16 TB* Yes Yes |
ext4 3rd party driver Native 16 GB-16 TB* Yes Yes |
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exFAT Built-in (Vista/7)** Driver 64 ZB No Yes |
exFAT Built-in (Vista/7)** Driver 64 ZB No Yes |
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</pre> |
</pre> |
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<p>* Depends on cluster size<br> |
<p>* Depends on cluster size<br> |
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** <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704" target="_blank">This update</a> adds exFAT support to Windows XP<br> |
** <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704" target="_blank">This update</a> adds exFAT support to Windows XP</p> |
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*** <a href="http://ext2read.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ext2read</a> makes accessing ext4 partitions possible, but it's not a driver and the access is read-only</p> |
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<p>Operating system support:</p> |
<p>Operating system support:</p> |
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<li>"Native" means that the kernel supports the filesystem and the OS can boot from a partition using that FS.</li> |
<li>"Native" means that the kernel supports the filesystem and the OS can boot from a partition using that FS.</li> |
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<li>"Built-in" means that the kernel supports the filesystem, but booting from a partition containing such FS is very difficult.</li> |
<li>"Built-in" means that the kernel supports the filesystem, but booting from a partition containing such FS is very difficult.</li> |
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<li>"Driver included" means that ntfs-3g (the driver that adds NTFS support to Linux) comes with most GNU/Linux distributions.</li> |
<li>"Driver included" means that ntfs-3g (the driver that adds NTFS support to Linux) comes with most GNU/Linux distributions.</li> |
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<li>"3rd party driver" means that drivers to add filesystem support are available, but must be downloaded and installed separately. The ext2/3 drivers are <a href="http://www.fs-driver.org" target="_blank">Ext2 IFS</a> and <a href="http://www.ext2fsd.com" target="_blank">Ext2fsd</a> and the exFAT driver is <a href="http://code.google.com/p/exfat/" target="_blank">exfat</a>.</li> |
<li>"3rd party driver" means that a driver to add filesystem support is available, but must be downloaded and installed separately. The ext2/3/4 driver is <a href="http://www.ext2fsd.com" target="_blank">Ext2fsd</a> and the exFAT driver is <a href="http://code.google.com/p/exfat/" target="_blank">exfat</a>.</li> |
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<li>"No" means that there is no way to get read-write filesystem support.</li> |
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</ul> |
</ul> |
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<H2><a name="filesystems"></a>Filesystems <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H2> |
<H2><a name="filesystems"></a>Filesystems <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H2> |
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<p>Ext2 was developed in January 1993, earlier than any other filesystem mentioned in this page.</p> |
<p>Ext2 was developed in January 1993, earlier than any other filesystem mentioned in this page.</p> |
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<p>Because ext2 is designed for GNU/Linux, support in Linux kernel was implemented immediately. The first Windows driver supporting ext2, <a href="http://www.ext2fsd.com" target="_blank">Ext2fsd</a> 0.01, was released on 25 January 2002. Both Windows drivers for ext2 work only on Windows NT operating systems (NT 4.0 up to Vista, 7 isn't supported yet).</p> |
<p>Because ext2 is designed for GNU/Linux, support in Linux kernel was implemented immediately. The first Windows driver supporting ext2, <a href="http://www.ext2fsd.com" target="_blank">Ext2fsd</a> 0.01, was released on 25 January 2002. Ext2fsd works only on Windows NT operating systems starting from Windows 2000.</p> |
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<p>The best property of ext2 is extensibility. The superblock contains information about which version the filesystem is (ext2, ext3 or ext4) and which extensions and features are in use. By using these pieces of information, the operating system or driver can decide whether or not mounting the partition is safe. That's the most important reason why most GNU/Linux distributions still use successors of ext2 as default filesystems.</p> |
<p>The best property of ext2 is extensibility. The superblock contains information about which version the filesystem is (ext2, ext3 or ext4) and which extensions and features are in use. By using these pieces of information, the operating system or driver can decide whether or not mounting the partition is safe. That's the most important reason why most GNU/Linux distributions still use successors of ext2 as default filesystems.</p> |
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<p>Ext2 supports file permissions, both hard and symbolic links and extended file attributes. Encryption, compression and journaling are unsupported.</p> |
<p>Ext2 supports file permissions, both hard and symbolic links and extended file attributes. Encryption, compression and journaling are unsupported.</p> |
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<p>Due to lack of journaling support and existence of Windows drivers, I recommend using ext2 if you're going to install GNU/Linux on a SSD drive and want to be able to access files within Windows too.</p> |
<p>Lack of journaling support is the worst limitation of ext2. What was done in order to get rid of the limitation?</p> |
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<p>However, lack of journaling support is the worst limitation of ext2. And what was done in order to get rid of the limitation?</p> |
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<H3><a name="partitions-ext3"></a>ext3 <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
<H3><a name="partitions-ext3"></a>ext3 <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
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<p>Ext3, the successor of ext2, was introduced in Linux kernel on November 2001. It supports journaling, can be grown online and optionally indexes large directories.</p> |
<p>Ext3, the successor of ext2, was introduced in Linux kernel on November 2001. It supports journaling, can be grown online and optionally indexes large directories.</p> |
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| 316 |
<p>Ext2 IFS and Ext2fsd can mount ext3 partition as ext2 if the journal is empty. (If it's not, something is wrong - journal is always emptied when the partition is unmounted or the computer is shut down.) Thus, ext3 support under Windows is just as good/bad as ext2 support.</p> |
<p>Ext2fsd can mount ext3 partition as ext2. Thus, ext3 support under Windows is just as good/bad as ext2 support.</p> |
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<p>Partition and file size limits are the same as in ext2: partition size limit is 2-32 TB and file size limit 16 GB-2 TB, depending on cluster size.</p> |
<p>Partition and file size limits are the same as in ext2: partition size limit is 2-32 TB and file size limit 16 GB-2 TB, depending on cluster size.</p> |
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| 320 |
<p>Due to journaling support and existence of Windows drivers, ext3 is a good choice if you're going to install GNU/Linux on a mechanical hard drive and want to be able to access files within Windows.</p> |
<p>Ext3 is becoming obsolete because there is...</p> |
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<H3><a name="partitions-ext4"></a>ext4 <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
<H3><a name="partitions-ext4"></a>ext4 <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
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| 328 |
<p>Another important improvement is larger partition size limit: an ext4 partition can be even one exabyte in size. (An exabyte is a million terabytes.) In addition, a directory within an ext4 partition can contain up to 64 000 subdirectories (instead of 32 000, as in ext2/3) and timestamps are much more accurate. The file size limit is 16 GB-16 TB, depending on cluster size.</p> |
<p>Another important improvement is larger partition size limit: an ext4 partition can be even one exabyte in size. (An exabyte is a million terabytes.) In addition, a directory within an ext4 partition can contain up to 64 000 subdirectories (instead of 32 000, as in ext2/3) and timestamps are much more accurate. The file size limit is 16 GB-16 TB, depending on cluster size.</p> |
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<p>Unfortunately, Ext2 IFS and Ext2Fsd don't support ext4 and are unable to mount ext4 partition if extents are enabled. They can be disabled, but other improvements of ext4 aren't that important for most people - using ext2 or ext3 is just easier. It is also possible to keep extents enabled and browse the partition using <a href="http://ext2read.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ext2read</a>, but Ext2read doesn't allow the user to write to the partition.</p> |
<p>Ext2fsd 0.50, released on 5 February 2011, supports ext4 and is able to mount ext4 partition even if extents are enabled. Thus, ext4 support under Windows is just as good/bad as ext2 support.</p> |
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<p>Due to its features, ext4 is a good filesystem on computers that only have GNU/Linux installed. Because journaling can be disabled, it is suitable for Solid State Drives and thumb drives too.</p> |
<p>Due to availability of Ext2fsd 0.50 and additional features, ext4 has become the de-facto GNU/Linux filesystem. Because journaling can be disabled, it is suitable for Solid State Drives and thumb drives too.</p> |
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<H3><a name="partitions-ntfs"></a>NTFS <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
<H3><a name="partitions-ntfs"></a>NTFS <span class="hideprint">[<a href="#partitions-top" title="go to top of the page">^</a>]</span></H3> |
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