File System Check (fsck)

Run fsck whenever there are majopr changes
toyour filesystem, and whenever Linux is
indicating problems with the filesystem.

As for time fo day, fsck is normally run on
an unmounted filesystem, and that means
userswon't have any access. Whenever
possible, you should run fsck when user
actvity is slowest.

the fsck utility is good, but it won't solve
all problems. Always have a backup ready.

Cheers

I think, I don't need run fsck directly - if something is wrong during system boot (for example, FS was not cleanly unmounted) init itself will run fsck. There is also a limit of filesystem mounts, when it will reach specific value, init will run fsck too (or you will receive a warning if you are mounting FS "by hand").

Eugen

There isn't generally a need to run this manually. As indicated earlier, this utility will run automatically after a volume error, and periodically after after every X number of file system mounts.

EXT2 doesn't need to be defragged like FAT does.

In the longer term, ReiserFS is the best bet of all. It is a journaled filesystem based on the AS400's relational database setup.

I THINK it's in the 2.4 Kernal. Downloading and seperately installing it is a nasty process, and personally, I'd avoid it.

Kev.

Indeed, if you are seriously worried about data integrity, especially on a system which is constantly running, I'd suggest ReiserFS.

I'm running a Debian/GNU 2.2 (potato) system with ReiserFS and a 2.4.2 kernel, and everything work very well. Before the 2.4 kernels ReiserFS was something I'd never dared to try, considering the lack of good support in the kernel. In 2.4 kernels however, there is built-in non-experimental support.

To use ReiserFS you need to compile a 2.4 kernel with the proper support. ReiserFS' developers have found some bugs in the kernel implementation, which are easily fixed by a patch available (along with the needed tools and good HOWTO's) at reiserfs.org.

In short, I highly recommend ReiserFS. =)

-- And to answer your question about fsck, if you do want to use ext2, it rarely needs to be run, but I still suggest Resier and a good backup schedule if data integrity is critical.

I would suggest that the "proper time to perform" fsck is anytime you suspect that your file system's integrity is in question. If a drive went offline, or started misbehaving ( sector read/write errors). You should ( must?) umount the file systemin question, then run the fsck.

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