aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/fs
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'fs')
-rw-r--r--fs/ext3/Kconfig32
1 files changed, 17 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/fs/ext3/Kconfig b/fs/ext3/Kconfig
index fb3c1a2..522b154 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/Kconfig
+++ b/fs/ext3/Kconfig
@@ -29,23 +29,25 @@ config EXT3_FS
module will be called ext3.
config EXT3_DEFAULTS_TO_ORDERED
- bool "Default to 'data=ordered' in ext3 (legacy option)"
+ bool "Default to 'data=ordered' in ext3"
depends on EXT3_FS
help
- If a filesystem does not explicitly specify a data ordering
- mode, and the journal capability allowed it, ext3 used to
- historically default to 'data=ordered'.
-
- That was a rather unfortunate choice, because it leads to all
- kinds of latency problems, and the 'data=writeback' mode is more
- appropriate these days.
-
- You should probably always answer 'n' here, and if you really
- want to use 'data=ordered' mode, set it in the filesystem itself
- with 'tune2fs -o journal_data_ordered'.
-
- But if you really want to enable the legacy default, you can do
- so by answering 'y' to this question.
+ The journal mode options for ext3 have different tradeoffs
+ between when data is guaranteed to be on disk and
+ performance. The use of "data=writeback" can cause
+ unwritten data to appear in files after an system crash or
+ power failure, which can be a security issue. However,
+ "data=ordered" mode can also result in major performance
+ problems, including seconds-long delays before an fsync()
+ call returns. For details, see:
+
+ http://ext4.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Ext3_data_mode_tradeoffs
+
+ If you have been historically happy with ext3's performance,
+ data=ordered mode will be a safe choice and you should
+ answer 'y' here. If you understand the reliability and data
+ privacy issues of data=writeback and are willing to make
+ that trade off, answer 'n'.
config EXT3_FS_XATTR
bool "Ext3 extended attributes"