Thanks for the clarification - so journaled writes with ext3 are safe on a * block-device * like a standard hard drive? Have you used ext3 w/loop-aes and shown it to be stable? Thanks, David Daniel Harvey wrote: > Hi David, > > I think you've misread the readme slightly. It states > > 2.2. Use of journaling file systems on loop device > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Don't use a journaling file system on top of file backed loop device. Device > backed loop device can be used with journaling file systems as device backed > loops guarantee that writes reach disk platters in order required by > journaling file system (write caching must be disabled on the disk drive, of > course). With file backed loop devices, correct write ordering may extend > only to page cache (which resides in RAM) of underlying file system. VM can > write such pages to disk in any order it wishes, and thus break write order > expectation of journaling file system. > > > So, feel free to use ext3 on a *_block-device_* backed loop device as > this guarantees the order of writes which is essential for journal-based > filesystems. > > i.e. > OK: ext3 --> loop device -> block device > BAD: ext3 --> loop device -> file > > Cheers, > Daniel. > -- > Daniel Harvey <daniel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:daniel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> > > > On Tue, 2008-02-12 at 21:11 -0800, David wrote: >> Hi everyone; >> >> Been looking on google but can't find a good answer/explanation; >> What is a "good"/"the best" file system for loop-aes? The readme states >> don't use a journaling system (ie ext3), but ext2 is a pain to do a hard >> restart from because of the fsck time. >> >> What modern linux file system works well w/loop-aes and has the >> convenience of quick recovery and stability? >> >> David >> >> - >> Linux-crypto: cryptography in and on the Linux system >> Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-crypto/ >> > - Linux-crypto: cryptography in and on the Linux system Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-crypto/
