[arch-general] BTRFS, a good choice for /?

[Dan Vrátil]

On Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:23:07 +0530, Nilesh Govindarajan
<lists at itech7.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> After true multilib support came for arch, I reformatted / as jfs to
> install arch64.
> But somehow, I feel my system is slow (in spite of regular fscks on
> every ten mounts and using deadline scheduler) as compared to arch32 &
> ext4.
> I'm thinking of using btrfs on /, is it stable to the extent that I
> can use it on /?
> I guess a lot of you guys are using it here?

I use it on my / for about six month now and it's OK. Of course regular
backups are necessary, because when it fails (happend two or three
times to
me), it's mostly unrepairable and you lost everything.
I also noticed significant speed regressions in last kernels, but I
hope
it will get OK soon.
To keep the the btrfs fit, you should do balancing regularly and you
should
try to avoid leaving btrfs in inconsistent state (like forcing unmount
or 
turning off (not properly) PC when there's some IO - that's how I
destroyed
my btrfs).

I agree it's not ready yet for production use, where absolute
reliability,
stability and constant performance are required, but I think it's ready
for 
home use. The more users will test it, the sooner it will get ready for
production use.

Dan

-- 
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Dan Vrátil
vratil at progdansoft.com
Tel: +4202 732 326 870
Jabber: progdan at jabber.cz