[vox] Why Linux FS doesn't need defragmenting

[Zach Johnson]

You can get 1.8", 2.5", or 3.5" flash drives which fit in normal
harddisk locations, they just tend to cost a lot more.

http://www.m-systems.com/site/en-US/Products/IDESCSIFFD/IDESCSIFFD

These days some people use the cheap compact flash cards to 
install the basic OS on.  There is a problem with the CF cards
failing after so many writes, but if you are in 
a situation where you do not write all the time it works out pretty well.
(ie: make sure you save logs to another device or over the net
elsewhere)
There is even JFFS2, a special file system made to overcom this limitation.

http://sources.redhat.com/jffs2/



On Sun, Sep 10, 2006 at 10:07:39PM -0700, Jimbo wrote:
> I have a question that, in a sense, is related to this article.  Forgive my 
> ignorance as this might sound really, really stupid:
> 
> >From what I have absorbed in the past a hard drive is just a big floppy 
> >with 
> a writing arm built in.  It is made of what appears to be a tape like 
> material but a stack of them, right?
> 
> Anyways...Why is it that this type of storage device is still used?  Seems 
> crude in that we have gone a long ways with electronics.  Couldn't they 
> just use some sort of electronic device?  It would seem that a large ic 
> chip like device could be able to be read and rewrote with ease.
> 
> I thought about this as I was thinking about computers on cars (thats my 
> bag, I'm a mechanic).  The car computer has a basic imput/output system, 
> remembers driving habits and detect problems which stores info on it as 
> well as freeze frame data for someone like me to read it with a scanner.  I 
> know that these computers have no hard drive so why can't a regular 
> personal computer have this as well?
> 
> Jim
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Kendrick" <nbs at sonic.net>
> To: "LUGOD" <vox at lists.lugod.org>
> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 11:45 AM
> Subject: [vox] Why Linux FS doesn't need defragmenting
> 
> 
> >
> >A friend of mine asked me about defragmenting Linux drives, and I never
> >had a good idea as to why you didn't really need to.
> >
> >Well, he found this page, and just shared it with me :^)
> >
> >
> >http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index.php/2006/08/17/why_doesn_t_linux_need_defragmenting
> >
> >Enjoy!
> >
> >-- 
> >-bill!
> >bill at newbreedsoftware.com
> >http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/
> >_______________________________________________
> >vox mailing list
> >vox at lists.lugod.org
> >http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox 
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