Originally, Linux supported a maximum file size of 2 GB. This was enough before the explosion of multimedia and as long as no one tried to manipulate huge databases on Linux. Becoming more and more important for server computing, the kernel and C library were modified to support file sizes larger than 2 GB when using a new set of interfaces that applications must use. Today, almost all major file systems offer LFS support, allowing you to perform high-end computing. Table 16-2 offers an overview of the current limitations of Linux files and file systems.
Table 16-2 Maximum Sizes of File Systems (On-Disk Format)
|
File System |
File Size (Bytes) |
File System Size (Bytes) |
|---|---|---|
|
Ext2 or Ext3 (1 KB block size) |
234 (16 GB) |
241 (2 TB) |
|
Ext2 or Ext3 (2 KB block size) |
238 (256 GB) |
243 (8 TB) |
|
Ext2 or Ext3 (4 KB block size) |
241 (2 TB) |
243 − 4096 (16 TB − 4096 Bytes) |
|
Ext2 or Ext3 (8 KB block size) (systems with 8 KB pages, like Alpha) |
246 (64 TB) |
245 (32 TB) |
|
ReiserFS v3 |
246 (64 TB) |
245 (32 TB) |
|
XFS |
263 (8 EB) |
263 (8 EB) |
|
NFSv2 (client side) |
231 (2 GB) |
263 (8 EB) |
|
NFSv3 (client side) |
263 (8 EB) |
263 (8 EB) |
IMPORTANT: Linux Kernel Limits
Table 16-2 describes the limitations regarding the on-disk format. The 2.6 kernel imposes its own limits on the size of files and file systems handled by it. These are as follows:
On 32-bit systems, files may not exceed the size of 2 TB (241 bytes).
File systems may be up to 273 bytes in size. However, this limit is still out of reach for the currently available hardware.