[ale] file size limit?

Byron A Jeff byron at cc.gatech.edu
Wed Nov 24 12:53:21 EST 2004


On Tue, Nov 23, 2004 at 09:37:27AM -0500, Geoffrey wrote:
> Anyone know what the file size limit is on current Linux kernels? 

There are 4 levels of limitation on file sizes:

1) Actual filesystem. ext2/ext3/reiser are well into the TB range.
2) Kernel VFS. All modern 2.6 kernels are 64 bit. No again no worries.
3) C library. Used to the be the bottleneck. But any current Linux version
   has a C library that will accept 64 bit offsets.
4) Applications. Here's where the current bottleneck is. Even if everything
   else supports large file sizes, if the application isn't written to use it
   then it doesn't matter.

> Anyone know a way to figure it out, without trying to create a file?

Check the app for using large file routines using nm. Same with the C library.
Make sure you're using a current kernel, any 2.4 or 2.6 will do.

> 
> I know it used to be 2gig, but most kernels I think now support LFS 
> which pushes it to 4gig, I think.

It's 64 bits: 18 petabytes.

BAJ



More information about the Ale mailing list