Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 11:11:41 +0100 (MET) From: Lenz Grimmer <grimmer@suse.de> To: lwn@lwn.net Subject: Press release "Journaling ReiserFilesystem" (fwd) Journaling ReiserFilesystem for SuSE Linux Nuremberg 7 January 2000 - The "second extended filesystem" (ext2) has been established in Linux for many years now as the standard file system. It is robust, well-tested and mature. However, if the computer is not shut down properly and the file system not cleanly closed down, then the next time the computer starts it must check the consistency of data structures in the file system, to prevent possible data loss. This procedure is insignificant for small files systems, but even with disk sizes which today are standard, and especially for larger server systems, this "file system check" can last a number of hours. The technical solution to this problem is the "Journaling Filesystem". Here, with the help of a journal, every change to the data structures of the file system is carefully protocolled, and this very journal is written to the hard drive _BEFORE_ any possible modifications to the actual data are made. Because of this, after a sudden system crash, for example through a power outage, a consistent system can be re-created within a few seconds at the next system start. Instead of long waiting times, the computer is immediately ready for use again. In close cooperation with SuSE, the developers' group under Hans Reiser and Chris Mason have expanded the high-performance ReiserFS with a corresponding Journaling functionality. The result for SuSE Linux 6.3 is now ready to be downloaded at: ftp.suse.com: /pub/suse/i386/update/6.3/reiserfs This means that for the first time a file system with an acceptable restart time is available, as far as large file systems in Linux are concerned. Naturally the ReiserFS, when it is ready for use in production and able to endure heavy loads, will be integrated into the next version of SuSE Linux. ------------------------------------- About SuSE SuSE, with a workforce of over 200 people, is one of the leading Linux companies worldwide. SuSE Linux is used by more than 50,000 business customers worldwide due to its stability and high quality. For an efficient use of Linux in a business environment SuSE offers an extensive range of qualified consulting and support services, as well as commercial Linux software and complete Linux systems. SuSE is contributing considerably to the development of Linux for projects such as the Linux kernel, glibc, XFree86[tm], KDE, ISDN4Linux, ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) and USB (Universal Serial Bus). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Christian Egle - SuSE GmbH - Schanzaeckerstr. 10 - 90443 Nuernberg Tel.: +49-(0)911-7405344 Fax: +49-(0)911-7417755 ----------------------------------------------------------------------