From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 4 20:23:00 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BC3971065672 for ; Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:23:00 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mkhitrov@gmail.com) Received: from mail-ew0-f216.google.com (mail-ew0-f216.google.com [209.85.219.216]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 39D638FC19 for ; Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:22:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: by ewy8 with SMTP id 8so3254514ewy.35 for ; Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:22:59 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :from:date:message-id:subject:to:cc:content-type; bh=WOGIe+VxioxER6VIGBLZmzsfST8aeditnWH/4o9JkVg=; b=Pea10IiTm5R8MwUs74FkoqtgdUW5OTvtF72Ejfqhg9KSTgwvStLZXdFcjwMaT5HCNP Q7MXefnNs/7YakLttaoPHxMhvf6ohImBzncPQO/pI1TpfgldIUjxBuKrSQTyUkYPq/pM Oz+UFsAHIdZb2gSwC2qq5uYJGmCq+L97sxwGo= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc:content-type; b=KrNqagzKp1zK57jYVRsiZzirh1OvQFOK1g9wHUm0/S629HYEnXjVyNbA2jsuZ5fOmi XQynYpedt9iN530UsfU1+R39Hz3bsmecS59bidrcyWiXLqthrP7s/iCDKXVc/9lSQsb6 gzkQ/hCeAoGF+aF9PWeJgVHqC3yHnPz1gfKdw= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.213.27.8 with SMTP id g8mr790763ebc.58.1259958179102; Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:22:59 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <7B9397B189EB6E46A5EE7B4C8A4BB7CB33C6C072@MBX03.exg5.exghost.com> References: <7B9397B189EB6E46A5EE7B4C8A4BB7CB33C6C072@MBX03.exg5.exghost.com> From: Maxim Khitrov Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 15:22:39 -0500 Message-ID: <26ddd1750912041222v2e468e61i1800ef8d385606fd@mail.gmail.com> To: Peter Steele Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: Re: Is there the equivalent of a Windows "fast format" for UFS? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:23:00 -0000 On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Peter Steele wrote: > I suspect I know the answer to this question but I'll ask it anyway. We're dealing with some very large disks (11TB raid array) and a newfs operation takes a significant time. Is there any way to get a volume formatted faster than the typical newfs does? > It's actually the other way around - there is only "fast" format for UFS. As far as I know, full format for FAT or NTFS also checks for bad sectors on the drive, so that's why Windows has that distinction. What you need to do is properly configure block/frag sizes and inode density. Figure out the average file size that will be stored on the volume and divide the total volume size by that number. That is the minimum number of inodes you should create, since one inode is required per file. Of course, you should aim higher since you will not be able to add more inodes without reformatting the system. Increasing block and fragment sizes may also help, depending on what type of files you are storing. Read tuning(7) and then newfs(8) for options -b, -f, and -i. - Max