From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Phillip Susi Subject: Default ext inode size Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:56:38 -0500 Message-ID: <491C8676.8000209@cfl.rr.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org Return-path: Received: from exhub016-3.exch016.msoutlookonline.net ([207.5.72.226]:14109 "EHLO EXHUB016-3.exch016.msoutlookonline.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751345AbYKMUGq (ORCPT ); Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:06:46 -0500 Sender: linux-fsdevel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: I noticed that the default inode size for mkfs in e2fsprogs has been changed to 256 bytes. I noticed this because I am seeing users complain that they can no longer access their ext partitions using the windows driver, which only supports normal 128 byte inodes. I'd like to know why this default was changed. As I understand it, the larger inode size means that ea/acl can be stored directly in the inode. Are there any other benefits? It seems that using extended attributes is rather uncommon in the first place, and that when they are used, many files often share them so it would be better to leave them in the shared data block rather than duplicate them in every inode. This leaves me wondering where is the common case that benefits from a larger default inode?