Filesystem Configuration and Measurement

Due : November 26, 2007

Requirements: 

• Add and configure filesystems on a hard drive.
• Measure filesystem performance.

Add and configure filesystems on a hard drive:

• Create partition(s) on the hard drive. The partition size must be at least 100 MByte.
• You will create ext3, vfat, and reiserfs filesystems on the partition(s). With a 1 GByte disk, you should be able to keep all 9 of the partitions needed for the measurements.
• Add /etc/fstab entries for each of the filesystems when their configuration has been finalized.
• Mount the filesystems, and verify that each filesystem has been created and mounted correctly.

Measure filesystem performance:

• Create a shell script, or a set of shell scripts, to find the largest single file that can fit on a filesystem. This script should also measure the amount of the time that it takes to create the file.
• Create a shell script to find the largest number of small files (less than 512 bytes) that can fit on a filesystem. This script should also measure the amount of the time that it takes to create the files. It is prudent to create a new directory about every 1000 files. You may include or exclude the directories from the count of files.
• For each of the three filesystem types (ext3, vfat, reiserfs) measure the large file size, file count, and times. Repeat these measurements for the each filesystem type when configured in three ways. The first way is the default configuration. The second way is configured to maximize the largest file size, and the third was is to maximize the number of small files.
• Note that for the many files and largest file, you may need some trial and error to find the optimal configuration.
• Plot the results in a set of graphs. One graph will show the maximal file size for each of the 9 configurations. Another will show the maximal number of files for each of the 9 configurations. The other 2 graphs will show the timing information.
• Add the graphs to a report that includes the configuration parameters for each of the file system configurations.

Pass-off Procedure: 

• Submit the report in pdf form to the submission system.
• Submit a text file named fs_info.txt with the following format:

  ip:    ip address of machine with extra filesystems.
  default_vfat:  /dev/name/of/default_for_vfat
  big_vfat:  /dev/name/of/big_file_for_vfat
  many_vfat: /dev/name/of/many_files_for_vfat
  default_ext3:  /dev/name/of/default_for_ext3
  big_ext3:  /dev/name/of/big_file_for_ext3
  many_ext3: /dev/name/of/many_files_for_ext3
  default_reiserfs:  /dev/name/of/default_for_reiserfs
  big_reiserfs:  /dev/name/of/big_file_for_reiserfs
  many_reiserfs: /dev/name/of/many_files_for_reiserfs
  

Commands of interest: 

• cfdisk
• mkfs
• tune2fs -l
• mount
• umount
• df
• ls -l
• du
• dselect(to install dosfstools and reiserfsprogs)