File Systems

Linux File System Overview
"On a UNIX system, everything is a file; if something is not a file, it is a process."

The following is a list of native Linux file systems. Linux can boot off of some of these partitions and use them as Root.

Linux filesystem types:


 * ext
 * ext2
 * ext3
 * ext4
 * hpfs
 * iso9660
 * JFS
 * minix
 * msdos
 * ncpfs
 * nfs
 * ntfs
 * proc
 * Reiserfs
 * smb
 * sysv
 * umsdos
 * vfat
 * XFS
 * xiafs

Details
The proc filesystem is mounted on /proc, you can find in /proc/filesystems which filesystems your kernel currently supports. To use a filesystem, you have to mount it. Below is a short description of the available or historically available filesystems above, in the Linux kernel.
 * ext - An elaborate extension of the minix filesystem. It has been superseded by the second version of the extended filesystem (ext2) and removed from the kernel (in 2.1.21).


 * ext2 - A high performance disk filesystem used by Linux for fixed disks as well as removable media. This second extended filesystem was designed as an extension of the filesystem (ext).


 * ext3 - This is a journaling version of the ext2 filesystem. It is easy to switch back and forth between ext2 and ext3.


 * ext4 - a set of upgrades to ext3 including substantial performance and reliability enhancements, plus large increases in volume, file, and directory size limits.


 * hpfs  -