Compared with Ext2, the main benefit of Ext3 is journaling where all changes can be tracked, which improves reliability and reduces the possibility of file system corruption due to system crashes or power failures.Īnother significant advantage is that Ext3 allows you to in-place upgrade from Ext2 without having to back up and restore data. It is a journaling file system that can be used on many popular Linux distributions. Ext3Įxt3 stands for the third extended file system introduced in November 2001 with Linux 2.4.15. What’s the difference between Ext3 and Ext4? Let’s keep reading the following context. Now, you should have an overall understanding of Ext2.
It is the most basic and portable file system in several Linux distributions, including Debian and Red Hat Linux. Its maximum individual file size can be up to 2TB and file system size can be from 4TB to 32TB depending on block size. As the first commercial file system for Linux, Ext2 breaks through some limitations of Ext. Ext2Įxt2 is the second extended file system that was initially designed by French software in 1993. Now, we will explore the differences of Ext4 vs Ext3 vs Ext 2 in detail. But they have differences in many aspects like file size limit, default inode size, journaling, and so on. Ext2 vs Ext3 vs Ext4Įxt2, Ext3, and Ext4 are all extended file systems created for Linux. What’s the difference between them? Let’s go on Ext2 vs Ext3 vs Ext4. The three types of extended file systems are common Linux file systems as well.
From then on, Ext3 and Ext4 file systems come out one after another. So, the second extended file system (Ext2) was released in 1993. However, the Ext file system has some drawbacks such as fragmentation and immutability of inodes. The use of a virtual file system (VFS) helps Ext handle file systems up to 2GB in size. It was implemented in April 1992 and aimed to break through certain limitations of the MINIX file system. The extended file system, also known as Ext, is the first file system developed especially for the Linux Kernel.