Arch Linux

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

pacman Very Slow

Hey all, I'm just experimenting with Arch Linux. I installed Arch Linux on an XFS partition. pacman -Ss and pacman-optimize runs VERY VERY VERY slow compared to when I installed on an ext3 partition. However XFS seems to be MUCH faster in almost everything else. Starting up apps is a lot faster. Only pacman is slow. Is this supposed to happen and why?

What partition should I use for general computing (not ext3)? Is JFS a good choice?

fwojciec

Member

Registered: 2007-05-20

Posts: 1,411

Re: pacman Very Slow

Is this supposed to happen and why?

Yes, it's to be expected.  Pacman database uses large number of small files, and XFS is simply dreadful when it comes to dealing with large numbers of small files, at least in its default configuration.  IMO, XFS is the worst possible filesystem to use on a system partition where performance with small files is, relatively speaking, most important.  It works well as a storage/data partition, especially if what you store is large (media) files.  There are ways of optimizing XFS for performance with small files, or so I've read, but I've never tried doing it myself so I've no experience with that.

ResierFS is, more or less, the opposite of XFS as far as dealing with small files is concerned -- and it's a great match for pacman, in my experience.

Misfit138

Misfit Emeritus

From: USA

Registered: 2006-11-27

Posts: 4,189

Re: pacman Very Slow

From the beginner's guide:

Note: /var contains many small files. You may wish to take this into consideration when choosing a filesystem type for it.

XFS: Generally benchmarked as slower with many small files, in comparison to other filesystems.

---

Amiga 1000 restomod
IBM PCjr restomod
C=64 restodmod
Sauengard

Berticus

Member

Registered: 2008-06-11

Posts: 731

Re: pacman Very Slow

I thought reiserfs was still considered to be somewhat unstable. I mean doesn't it lose a lot of information?

fwojciec

Member

Registered: 2007-05-20

Posts: 1,411

Re: pacman Very Slow

I thought reiserfs was still considered to be somewhat unstable. I mean doesn't it lose a lot of information?

It doesn't.  Ext3 is the conservative choice if data integrity is of paramount importance -- this doesn't mean, however, that other filesystems are somehow "unstable".

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: pacman Very Slow

So is it ok to use JFS as a filesystem? I'm only going to use one partition for my Linux installation (except for swap).

fwojciec

Member

Registered: 2007-05-20

Posts: 1,411

Re: pacman Very Slow

Read the wiki article about JFS (especially the "cautionary notes section"), this filesystem seems to have its quirks and it's best to know about them ahead of time: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/JFS