to clarify the point abit, relating to Sir Robin's post below and David E Fox's post with the link to the Suse explanation, is it fair to start of by saying that ext2/3 does not need file defragmentation, as the expense of disk fragmentation?
due to the way it grabs free space, there will always be lotsa empty space between files, while (for example) say a 50% used disk with majority small files can concievably use up to 90% or more of the disc surface. doesn't this increase the seek time, since the head has to move across the entire radius of the disc? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Robin Turner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2003 2:56 AM > Subject: Re: [newbie] defragmentation > > > > It's very simple, and not exclusive to Linux - it goes back to the early > > days of Unix. > > > > The best way to think of it is that your filesystem is one of those > > folders that has a separate plastic envelope for each page. Imagine > > you're a secretary who has to store documents in such a folder. To > > start off, you put in the first document at the beginning, then the > > second document after it, and so on. > > > > The difference comes when you bin some documents (delete files). If > > you're a Unix/Linux secretary, and you have a ten-page document, you > > look for the first empty space in the folder that has at least ten > > envelopes and put your document there. If you're a Windows secretary, > > you start filing the document in the first empty space you find, even if > > it only has three envelopes. You then look for another empty space, and > > file the next few pages of your document, and so on. Eventually, the > > documents in your foder are so spread out and mixed up that you have to > > take them all out and put them back in some kind of order > > (defragmentation). Stupid, isn't it? > > > > Sir Robin > > > > -- > > "Some guy breaking into a government computer system and wreaking havoc > > makes for a more interesting movie plot than some guy writing device > > drivers. It's hard to work in a good 10-minutes car chase scene with some > > guy who writes device drivers..." - tjc, post to LWN > > > > Robin Turner > > IDMYO > > Bilkent Univeritesi > > Ankara 06533 > > Turkey > > > > www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin
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