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Double Click
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 21 May 2004
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 Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 6:27 pm Post subject: Removable Hard Drive and Gentoo |
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I wonder if any of you can give me any hints or advice on how to go about the following problem. I have a server at our datacenter which I need to copy various files and backups off onto a removable media. At the moment I am going there with my USB HD and format the thing with reiserfs, as I do not have other filesystem kernel options compiled, and start the long copy process. The files are round about 200MB minimum and maximum 15GB big (total amount). Once I am on my Windows box I use a little program to read my reiserfs partition on the USB HD and copy it to a NTFS partition for further archieving. These then get backed up on a DLT based tape drive on the Windows box.
By now a lot of you would raise an eyebrow or two about this procedure but here is what I cannot change and out of my control:
- No Tape Drive option on the Gentoo Server were I copy the files off.
- No direct connection option between Gentoo and Windows.
I am thinking of compiling the kernel with NTFS support but reading through some of the post it looks like there are some major limitation/issues with NTFS write/read and Linux overall. Also I have noticed copying the data from reiserfs to reiserfs it takes a long time and I can swear that the data I have moved from my NTFS based USB HD to NTFS is much faster. I have also verified that on the Gentoo box it running on USB2.
My question would be basically:
1. What filesystem should I be using for transporting data between reiserfs and ntfs? Is reiserfs suited for a removable/external storage?
2. How can I speed the copy process further up? Please let me know on what information I should copy.
3. Would a USB based DVD-Writer be any good in this case?
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beatryder
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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You might want to use ext2 instead of reiser, that or make sure that you mount reiser with the 'notail' option.
A faster HD might be in order, do you have a 7200 RPM? Can you use firewire instead?
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forgotten1
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Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 477
Location: East Coast, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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As you read my comments, ensure you have 5 kilo grain of salt handy ..
| You wrote: | | 1. What filesystem should I be using for transporting data between reiserfs and ntfs? Is reiserfs suited for a removable/external storage? |
If I read your question right, you want to know what is the best filesystem on the transport device to carry files between a Linux and Windows environment. Assuming that's the right question, my recommendation would be:
- USB harddrive - vfat32
- Optical disk drive - iso9660
| You wrote: | | 2. How can I speed the copy process further up? Please let me know on what information I should copy. |
To speed the copy process, tar up what you are going to backup. WinZip and other windows utilities can uncompress them. Realize though though that it does take time for compression.
| You wrote: | | 3. Would a USB based DVD-Writer be any good in this case? |
I wouldn't bother with an optical drive unless you are going to switch to them. You stated you are using a tape backup system now. And the speeds of the optical drives are a little slower than hard drives which will increase your copy time.
I use a cheap little device for my personal file backup purposes. You can find one like it on eBay. I recommended vfat32, because it is easily readable by both systems. And I believe the firefly I recommended works out of the box on both, assuming your kernel is configured with default options. |
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Double Click
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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No firewire option possible in this case 
The HD is 5200 RPM  and how would ext2 accesibility be in Windows?
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Double Click
Tux's lil' helper
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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forgotten1 - for vfat32 support i need to do some kernel bashing right ?
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forgotten1
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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I believe vfat32 is a default kernel option in gentoo-sources, I'd check right now, but I'm in the middle of a reinstall...
And like I mentioned earlier, the firefly worked out of the box for both Linux and Windows. |
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beatryder
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Double Click wrote: | No firewire option possible in this case
The HD is 5200 RPM and how would ext2 accesibility be in Windows? |
5200?, surely you must mean 5400.
As far as ext2 in windows i point you to ==> http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/ext2.html
more specifically ==> http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd
also I think fat32 should be available by default. but some "kernel bashing" may be in order.
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Double Click
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah sorry about the typo. I'll check out the links you send me and try to posy back my observations and results. Thanks a million.
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beatryder
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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NP,
Also, I would avoid using fat32 for large drivers, as it is VERY slow
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WD-40
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Joined: 22 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 12:36 am Post subject: |
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| If you can bring in a USB drive, why not just bring in a USB tape drive?? |
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Double Click
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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Okay - all worked fine. Using ext2 on the USB HD. Although the data transfer is amazingly slow - could be I am not using USB2 drivers or someting maybe? This will be quest by itself 
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