Re: True fsync() in Linux (on IDE)

From: Christoffer Hall-Frederiksen
Date: Mon Mar 22 2004 - 14:12:09 EST


Matthias Andree wrote:
Jens Axboe schrieb am 2004-03-22:


There's no such thing as atomic writes bigger than a sector really, we
just pretend there is. Timing usually makes this true.

;)


If there is no such atomicity (except maybe in ext3fs data=journal or
the upcoming reiserfs4 - isn't there?), then nobody should claim so. If
the kernel cannot 100.00000000% guarantee the write is atomic, claiming
otherwise is plain fraud and nothing else.

Some people bet their whole business/company and hence a fair deal of
their belongings on a single data base, and making them believe facts
that simply aren't reality is dangerous. These people will have very
little understanding for sloppiness here. Linux has no obligation to be
fast or reliable, but it MUST PROPERLY AND TRUTHFULLY state what it can
guarantee and what it cannot guarantee.

Some databases (eg. oracle) can write a checksum for each database page to overcome this problem, as this is not just "a linux problem".


--
Christoffer

Topper Harley: Interesting perfume.
Ramada Thompson: It's Vicks. I have a cold.
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