Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 6th Oct 2012 13:59 UTC, submitted by robojerk
"F2FS is a new file system carefully designed for the NAND flash memory-based storage devices. We chose a log structure file system approach, but we tried to adapt it to the new form of storage. Also we remedy some known issues of the very old log structured file system, such as snowball effect of wandering tree and high cleaning overhead."
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Member since:2008-03-17
But a bit more seriously though, this is a good thing. It's disappointing that when it comes to flash media, no suitable file system has gained popularity and we're still stuck with FAT. Well, ext2, too--
The thing here is that any block device filesystem will do for external media due to the hardware FTL (flash translation layer -- converts flash into a block device).
The post implies that this filesystem is to be used as a block device and not a mtd device. What confuses me is that they compare this to log structured filesystems, but those are usually used in mtd devices (which lack a FTL).
So what is the use case specifically for this FS?
Edited 2012-10-06 16:10 UTC
Member since:2006-01-25
From the KML, it seems some of the kernel devs are confused as well...
It seems that it does not do wear leveling and is designed to work with an FTL, but its as clear as mud to me.
I guess it will all shake out eventually. It does look interesting though:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/1370709
Member since:2005-07-08
A log-structured filesystem is not necessarily a bad design choice for FTL volumes. You don't need to worry about wear-leveling, but you don't need to worry about spatial locality either, and you know that the FTL will override any attempts to do in-place updates.
So you can only really optimize two things: allocating free (logical) blocks for writes, and indexing file extents for reads. Log-structured filesystems are as good as it gets for allocating free space (just continue writing where we left off), and they also avoid the fragmentation of files across many extents.
The only thing one might want to do differently than a classic log-structured filesystem is to update the superblocks and inodes in-place and defer to the FTL's wear-leveling algorithm. These are fixed block-sized structures, so in-place updates are simple and copy-on-write is an unnecessary overhead.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2006-12-05
Don't let Apple find out! Next thing you know, they'll try to find something to sue over in this new file system.
But a bit more seriously though, this is a good thing. It's disappointing that when it comes to flash media, no suitable file system has gained popularity and we're still stuck with FAT. Well, ext2, too--but at the expense of cross-platform read/write-ability because some company in Redmond wants you to use their crappy, antiquated file system from the 1980s. And apparently every company loves it because, being such creaky old and simplistic technology, implementing it is a breeze.
That said, IMO ext2 is not that good of a solution either really; there needs to be a file system built from the ground up to support all major operating systems equally. Something designed for flash drives and with implementations for all major operating systems from the start.