Re: Filesystem corrupts after power failure

Markvr <markvrwebsites@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

I've seen several linux boxes get their file system corrupted after a
sudden power failure. Usually the partitions and the data is still
there, but for whatever reason it won't mount and boot correctly and
I've had to end up rebuilding the box from scratch which is a pain in
the arse as they aren't always on site.

?? mount? boot? A power failure will almost certainly not affect the /boot
stuff, since they are not in use at all at the time. Similarly the MBR
certainly should not be affected. Sounds like it might be hardware faults--
if the hardware on the drive is damaged, not much that software can do.


I'm not a linux expert, but it seems that sometimes the GRUB gets
stuffed, or the partitions lose their labels or whatever so they won't
mount properly.

I think you need to give more details of what exactly the symptoms are.
And you can often use the installation CD to do rescue/repairs.


Linux seems to handle power failures far more poorly than Win 2K /XP as
I've know very few Windows boxes corrupt this much after a power failure.

I've tried using the sync option in fstab but it slows the box down too
much (a simple file copy goes from 7sec to 1min23sec).

We tend to use software raid if that has issues with power failures?

At the moment we're using ext3, is there a more reliable filesystem that
will handle power failures better?

Would using "sync" for the /boot and / partitions stop it from
corrupting the tables?

These aren't massive enterprise systems, they're mainly firewalls and
small mail servers, so is ReiserFS or any of the others better?

Any advice is appreciated,

Cheers
Mark

.

Relevant Pages

  • panic when mounting a filesystem
    ... After a power failure I'm not able to mount a partition any longer. ... Whenever I attempt to mount it I get a panic message and the system ... One of the partitions on the RAID works properly. ...
    (SunManagers)
  • Re: Filesystem corrupts after power failure
    ... Usually the partitions and the data is still ... mount properly. ... I've know very few Windows boxes corrupt this much after a power failure. ... XFS caches aggressively and only commits the data to the physical disk at ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: Bypass mount/system request at boot time?
    ... to come up automatically out of the box after, say, an emergency reboot, ... power failure etc. ... So long as this procedure runs (and you spell 'mount' correctly) you should ... I *always* fully spell out DCL command verbs ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: power failure
    ... steve ellis wrote: ... had a power failure. ... at one time, i used a disk check utility under 3.x and 4.x, but it's been so long, i've forgotten how to use it, and clean these up. ... # mount -at ufs ...
    (freebsd-isp)
  • Re: Filesystem corrupts after power failure
    ... Usually the partitions and the data is still ... Therefore, if the filesystem is corrupted, GRUB is clueless. ... I've know very few Windows boxes corrupt this much after a power failure. ... XFS caches aggressively and only commits the data to the physical disk at ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)