Filesystems

Quicken2k · 2011-05-27 23:14:49

Hi,

I would like to use the Ext4 filesystem. I would like to turn off Journaling though. We do a lot of online banking here and such and I would like to be a little secure if I can. It's my understanding that journaling creates a backup of your files and such or at least index's them so shred won't work as it should. Is it all possible to turn this feature off?.

Quicken2k
Mark

graysky · 2011-05-28 00:12:33

You can using tune2fs but I don't recommend doing it. Just enable privacy browsing when you do your online banking. Nothing is cached to the disc.

Last edited by graysky (2011-05-28 00:14:49)

fukawi2 · 2011-05-28 00:47:13

Quicken2k wrote:

It's my understanding that journaling creates a backup of your files and such or at least index's them so shred won't work as it should.

Not quite....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journaling_file_system wrote:

A journaling file system is a file system that keeps track of the changes that will be made in a journal (usually a circular log in a dedicated area of the file system) before committing them to the main file system. In the event of a system crash or power failure, such file systems are quicker to bring back online and less likely to become corrupted.

Stebalien · 2011-05-28 03:39:14

Use encryption.

DSpider · 2011-05-29 10:25:57

Exactly. Journalling is useful in case of a power outage. AFAIK, that "backup" you're talking about is only used (very cleverly) when files are written on the HDD or moved from one location to another. You see, before journalling filesystems were invented, if a power outage occurred when the computer was doing something you may have lost data, files would become corrupt, etc. Journalling, coupled with the occasional fsck virtually prevent such tragedies.

If you're thinking of turning journalling off, for whatever reason, then you should probably invest in a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).

Alternatively (and much much cheaper), you could create a ~300 MB TrueCrypt container and have the browser cache and save its settings there, encrypt the whole drive, or encrypt just the /home partition.

Last edited by DSpider (2011-05-29 10:26:59)

graysky · 2011-05-29 11:19:49

Even more simplistic would be to use /dev/shm as the location for your browser cache.
Better yet: make a profile specifically for online banking which uses no cache (this is what I do).

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-27 23:14:49

Filesystems

#2 2011-05-28 00:12:33

Re: Filesystems

#3 2011-05-28 00:47:13

Re: Filesystems

#4 2011-05-28 03:39:14

Re: Filesystems

#5 2011-05-29 10:25:57

Re: Filesystems

#6 2011-05-29 11:19:49

Re: Filesystems

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