Be File System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:55, 30 April 2015

Revision as of 18:34, 3 September 2016

Line 3:

| full_name = Be File System

| developer = [[Be Inc.]]

| introduction_os = [[BeOS]] Advanced Access Preview Release<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.zdnet.com/products/osuser/boj/hacker10.html | title=BeOS Journal 10: A First Look at DR9 | author=Scot Hacker | date=1997-07-01 | work=ZDNet | accessdate=2007-03-22 |archiveurl = httphttps://web.archive.org/web/19991002123347/http://www.zdnet.com/products/osuser/boj/hacker10.html |archivedate = 1999-10-02}}</ref>

| introduction_date = May 10, 1997

| partition_id = Be_BFS ([[Apple Partition Map]])<br>[[Partition type#PID_EBh|0xEB]] ([[Master Boot Record|MBR]])

Line 26:

The '''Be File System''' ('''BFS''') is the native [[file system]] for the [[BeOS]]. In the Linux kernel, it is referred to as "BeFS" to avoid confusion with [[Boot File System]].

BFS was developed by [[Dominic Giampaolo]] and [[Cyril Meurillon]] over a ten-month period, starting in September 1996,<ref name="practical-book">{{cite book | last=Giampaolo | first=Dominic | year=1999 | url=http://www.nobius.org/~dbg/practical-file-system-design.pdf | title=Practical File System Design with the Be File System | publisher=Morgan Kaufmann | isbn=1-55860-497-9 | format=PDF}}</ref> to provide [[BeOS]] with a modern [[64-bit]] capable [[journaling file system]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/29/windows_on_a_database_sliced/ | title=Windows on a database – sliced and diced by BeOS vets | author=Andrew Orlowski | date=2002-03-29 | publisher=The Register | accessdate=2006-12-09| archiveurl= httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20061230040241/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/29/windows_on_a_database_sliced/| archivedate= 30 December 2006 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> It is [[case-sensitive]] and capable of being used on [[floppy]], [[hard disk]]s and read-only media such as [[CD-ROM]]s. However, its use on small removable media is not advised, as the file-system headers consume from 600 KB to 2 MB, rendering floppy disks virtually useless.

Like its predecessor, OFS (Old Be File System, written by [[Benoit Schillings]] - formerly BFS),<ref name="bortmaninterview">{{cite web | url=http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/bible/bos/int_schillings.html | title=Benoît Schillings, Software Engineer | author=Henry Bortman | work=The BeOS Bible | accessdate=2006-09-10| archiveurl= httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20060927061917/http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/bible/bos/int_schillings.html| archivedate= 27 September 2006 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> it includes support for extended file attributes ([[Metadata (computing)|metadata]]), with indexing and querying characteristics to provide functionality similar to that of a [[relational database]].

Whilst intended as a 64-bit-capable file system, the size of some on-disk structures mean that the practical size limit is approximately 2 [[exabytes]]. Similarly the extent-based file allocation reduces the maximum practical file size to approximately 260 gigabytes at best and as little as a few blocks in a pathological worst case, depending on the degree of [[file system fragmentation|fragmentation]].