Be File System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:43, 3 November 2018

Revision as of 20:45, 13 September 2019

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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=https://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= https://web.archive.org/web/20061230040241/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/29/windows_on_a_database_sliced/| archivedate= 30 December 2006 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurlurl-status= nolive}}</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= https://web.archive.org/web/20060927061917/http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/bible/bos/int_schillings.html| archivedate= 27 September 2006 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurlurl-status= nolive}}</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]].

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In addition to the original 1996 BFS used in [[BeOS]], there are several implementations for [[Linux]]. In early 1999, Makoto Kato developed a Be File System driver for Linux; however, the driver never reached a complete stable state, so in 2001 Will Dyson developed his own version of the Linux BFS driver.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://befs-driver.sourceforge.net/about.php | title=BeFS driver for Linux: About BeFS | author=Will Dyson | year=2002 | publisher=SourceForge | accessdate=2006-12-09 }}</ref>

In 2002 Axel Dörfler and a few other developers created and released a reimplemented BFS called OpenBFS for [[Haiku (operating system)|Haiku]] (OpenBeOS back then).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://haikunews.org/482 |title=OBFS Reaches Beta |author=Daniel Teixeira |date=2002-09-04 |work=Haiku News |accessdate=2006-12-09 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004111533/http://haikunews.org/482 |archivedate=2006-10-04 |deadurl=yes |dfurl-status=dead }}</ref> In January 2004, Robert Szeleney announced that he had developed a fork of this OpenBFS file system for use in his [[SkyOS]] operating system.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/210 | title=Update | author=Robert Szeleney | date=2004-01-23 | work=skyos.org | accessdate=2006-12-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234126/http://www.skyos.org/?q=node%2F210 | archive-date=2007-09-26 | deadurl-url=yes | dfstatus=dead }}</ref> The regular OpenBFS implementation was also ported to [[Syllable Desktop|Syllable]] and has been included since version 0.6.5.

==See also==