Xiafs
Encyclopedia
Xiafs was a file system for the operating system
Linux
which was conceived and developed by Frank Xia and was based on the MINIX file system
. Today it is obsolete and not in use, except possibly in some historic installations.
file system, but it had a number of limitations. For example, the length of filenames was limited to 14 characters and the partition size was limited to 64 MB. To replace the MINIX file system, the extended file system
(or ext) was developed. However, it too had some problems such as poor performance and the lack of some date stamps. Two contenders for replacing ext were quickly developed: ext2
and Xiafs. The two file systems were included in the standard kernel in December 1993 (Linux
0.99.15). ext2
and Xiafs had the same goal: to offer good performance, reasonable limitations, and fixing the flaws of ext
. Initially, Xiafs was more powerful and more stable than Ext2, but being a fairly minimalistic modification of the Minix file system, it was not very well suited for future extension.
The end result was that Xiafs changed very little while ext2 evolved considerably, rapidly improving stability, performance and adding extensions. ext2, after some shakedown time, quickly became the standard file system of Linux. Since then, ext2 has developed into a very mature and robust file system.
Xiafs was removed along with the original Extended file system from Linux
2.1.21, as it was no longer in use and was unmaintained. ext2
, ext3
and their successor ext4
are in the Linux kernel.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
which was conceived and developed by Frank Xia and was based on the MINIX file system
MINIX file system
-History:MINIX was written from scratch by Andrew S. Tanenbaum in the 1980s, as a Unix-like operating system whose source code could be used freely in education...
. Today it is obsolete and not in use, except possibly in some historic installations.
History
Linux originally used the MINIXMinix
MINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes; MINIX also inspired the creation of the Linux kernel....
file system, but it had a number of limitations. For example, the length of filenames was limited to 14 characters and the partition size was limited to 64 MB. To replace the MINIX file system, the extended file system
Extended file system
The extended file system or ext was implemented in April 1992 as the first file system created specifically for the Linux operating system. It has metadata structure inspired by the traditional Unix File System and was designed by Rémy Card to overcome certain limitations of the Minix file...
(or ext) was developed. However, it too had some problems such as poor performance and the lack of some date stamps. Two contenders for replacing ext were quickly developed: ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
and Xiafs. The two file systems were included in the standard kernel in December 1993 (Linux
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
0.99.15). ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
and Xiafs had the same goal: to offer good performance, reasonable limitations, and fixing the flaws of ext
Extended file system
The extended file system or ext was implemented in April 1992 as the first file system created specifically for the Linux operating system. It has metadata structure inspired by the traditional Unix File System and was designed by Rémy Card to overcome certain limitations of the Minix file...
. Initially, Xiafs was more powerful and more stable than Ext2, but being a fairly minimalistic modification of the Minix file system, it was not very well suited for future extension.
The end result was that Xiafs changed very little while ext2 evolved considerably, rapidly improving stability, performance and adding extensions. ext2, after some shakedown time, quickly became the standard file system of Linux. Since then, ext2 has developed into a very mature and robust file system.
Xiafs was removed along with the original Extended file system from Linux
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
2.1.21, as it was no longer in use and was unmaintained. ext2
Ext2
The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system ....
, ext3
Ext3
The ext3 or third extended filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian...
and their successor ext4
Ext4
The ext4 or fourth extended filesystem is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.It was born as a series of backward compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for the Lustre file system between 2003 and 2006, meant to...
are in the Linux kernel.