Testing Out Linux File-Systems On A USB Flash Drive

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Testing Out Linux File-Systems On A USB Flash Drive

In past articles we have delivered plenty of file-system benchmarks from testing out EXT4 to Btrfs to NILFS2. We have also delivered benchmarks from traditional hard drives to solid-state drives. One area though where we have not published any file-system benchmarks is for USB flash drives. Most users end up staying with the default FAT32 file-system for flash drives, but are there any performance advantages to using EXT3, EXT4, XFS, Btrfs, or ReiserFS? We have the benchmarks today to share atop the latest Linux 2.6.32 kernel build.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=14362

[walmartshopper]

In the Threaded I/O Tester chart on the last page, it says Fewer Are Better. In the paragraph following the chart, it says ReiserFS was first place, but I think it was actually last place.

[NeoBrain]

On page 4, you say "ReiserFS managed to pull a win" in a test where the image says "Fewer Are Better" although ReiserFS got the greatest value in most test, if I understand things right here...

EDIT: beaten by 3 minutes :/

[dextro]

What about wear and tear? I generally avoid journaling file systems from flash drives because I thought they would negatively affect the lifetime of the hardware due to the large number of writes. Am I right in assuming this?

[CheetoPet]

I've been running the OS of a server on an 8GB model of that Corsair drive for a year now. Funny how temporary solutions so often end up not...

[BlackStar]

I've been running Ubuntu for about 8 months a cheap 8GB Transcend USB stick. EXT4 all the way, with journalling. Just four tweaks: no swapfile, /tmp is tmpfs, disk elevator is none and no browser disk cache.

This stick is very slow in random writes but pretty fast in random reads. I wouldn't say no to a better stick (Cruizer, SanDisk or Voyager GT), but the Transcend one works too for my day to day needs (programming, movies and a games like Diablo 2, Starcraft or World of Goo.)

No "wear and tear" to speak of (my data is backed up online so I'm not worried) and the stick is absolutely silent! Boots up quickly, too.

[Ant P.]

I would've liked to see UDF compared to FAT32 in these graphs.

Using a general-purpose Linux filesystem with permissions kind of defeats the point of a removable USB drive IMO.

[BlackStar]

Originally Posted by Ant P.

I would've liked to see UDF compared to FAT32 in these graphs.

Using a general-purpose Linux filesystem with permissions kind of defeats the point of a removable USB drive IMO.

What's the purpose of a removable USB drive in your opinion?

[apaige]

Originally Posted by dextro

What about wear and tear? I generally avoid journaling file systems from flash drives because I thought they would negatively affect the lifetime of the hardware due to the large number of writes. Am I right in assuming this?

This is what Theodore Ts'o has to say about that.

[dextro]

Originally Posted by apaige

This is what Theodore Ts'o has to say about that.

Thanks, the comments on that post contain some very interesting info about the issue so I've got my answer.