Robert Heller <hel...@deepsoft.com> writes:
> Matthew of Boswell <mordervomubel+use...@lockmail.us> wrote:
>> The main difference between ext2 and ext3 is the journal. Note that
>> filesystems can be converted back and forth between ext2 and ext3, so
>> you can change your mind later (ex: add a journal to ext2 to make it
>> ext3, or force ext3 to mount as ext2 to ignore the journal). Just
>> make sure you know what you're doing if you switch.

>> The journal, in my opinion, is unnecessary for a simple backup
>> solution. The main benefit is that the data recovery and filesystem
>> structure will be more reliable if you happen to lose power or crash
>> your system at the exact moment you happen to be writing to the
>> drive.  Since you'd probably rather start your backup over again from
>> scratch at that point, I'd say journaling is extra overhead.

> For a thumb drive, a journal adds more 'wear'.  Since the thumb drive
> is a backup device and will likely only ever *manually* be mounted and
> unmounted and will not likely be mounted for longer that the duration
> of the backup process, the journal adds nothing but overhead and
> *needless* wear.