[NTLUG:Discuss] ext3 waste disk spaces then Windows ME?

[Pat Regan]

Kipton Moravec wrote:
> Sometimes it depends on the definition of 1Mbyte. Is it 1,000,000 bytes
> or 1K (1024 bytes) * 1K (1024 bytes) = 1,048,576 bytes?
> 
> Disk drive manufacturers use 1M = 1,000,000. Some operating systems tend
> to use 1M = 1,048,576.
> 
> Kip

The difference between real megabytes and metric megabytes (I don't
believe in mibibytes) is about 5%.  5% for the rounding plus 5% reserved
blocks probably makes up the missing 8%.

I know Chris mentioned using a reserved percent of 1 or 0.  I am not
sure if it is well known that you can use fractions of a percent.  The
reserved blocks also help prevent fragmentation by keeping large chunks
of space free.  I would imagine in most cases you wouldn't need more
than a half gig or so of reserved space for that purpose.

Pat