[wplug] Partition moving

[David Tessitor]

Since you are setting up new partitions, you might want to consider using
alternative formats.  I've been reading about Reiserfs.  As a journaling file
system it is safe from problems caused by power interrupts and forced
shutdowns.  It's added redundancy enables it to recover, practically
instantaneously, from problems that could render ext2 inoperable.

There are several journaling systems in the works.  IBM donated to Linux
opensource its version that has been operating for years under AIX; there is a
new ext3 standard in the works; there are a couple vaporware systems (SGI is
one); and Reiserfs has already been incorporated as an option in Mandrake for
a couple versions now (and I believe in Red Hat 7.0).

You might want to check out an article by Moshe Bar,
<http://www.byte.com/column/BYT20000524S0001>.  It provides a good
explanation, and even though he is working with the IBM team porting its
system, he recommends trying Reiserfs at this time.  I'm planning on redoing
my 20 Gig drive today using three primaries -- DOS, W95, & NT4 (NTFS) -- and,
in the extended partition, Linux (Mandrake & RedHat) in Reiserfs logical
partitions.  I'll use separate partitions for /home, /usr/local/, /opt, /tmp,
and swap that I'll share between the two distributions.  Everything else I'll
keep separate for each distribution in other partitions.

I may also throw in an NTFS logical partition or two for data and programs
under the extended partition.  I use partitions as protective compartments,
sort of like water tight compartments in a submarine.  There are a number of
advantages, such as reducing fragmentation, easier backup, cleaning out one or
the other completely, etc.  There's plenty of room for them, and NT doesn't
care how many or where its partitions are as long as there are enough letters
for the ones it uses.  Mandrake doesn't seem to mind how many there are on a
drive either. -- RedHat, however, coughs on first reboot.  It seems RH needs
to have the extra device files for any partitions past #16 copied from
Mandrakes /dev files.  RH will install OK in over #16 it just won't work on
reboot until the /dev files are added because RH doesn't make them itself for
any partitions past for the first 16 (a simple click, copy, paste operation
takes care of it).

BTW, there is a performance issue involved also.  Moshe says the journaling is
slightly slower and recommends it for data but not programs because program
partitions aren't written to as often.  But then the data he gives for tests
show that Reiserfs is significantly faster all around than ext2.  The latter
is the same thing I have heard from other sources.  Reiserfs' greater speed is
thought to contribute to Win4Lin being able to run W95 programs faster than
W95 can natively.

Based upon added performance and security, I'm going to try using Reiserfs as
soon as I stop writing and get a bite to eat.

Dave

--------

David G Matthews wrote:

> I just added a second 20 gig HD to my system.  My first drive has Win NT
> on a 4 gig NTFS system as the first partition, with the rest of the disk
> reserved for Linux.  I'd like to move NT to a 4 gig partition on the
> second drive, so that Windows and Linux reside on separate physical disks.
> The installation software that came with the new disk has a utility for
> moving entire disk partitions around, but it doesn't work on NTFS
> filesystems.  Does anyone know of a utility (for Widnows or Linux) that
> can move NTFS partitions?
> Thanks,
> dgm