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Better file system type than ext4 for recovering deleted files?

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Sridhar Sarnobat

I usually format all my drives to ext4, and have limited luck in restoring deleted files (using extrecover, extmagic etc.).

Is there a better file system type, or any special formatting options, that make recovery more likely? (rsync to the same folder hidden by a symlink makes this semi-common for me)

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in flag
matigo
You could look at ZFS, which has automatic snapshots. However, you still need to set up a place to store those snapshots long term. If you’re not already sticking to a backup process that is sufficient enough to eliminate the need for data recovery, then ZFS may be an over-complicated tool that gets in the way and chews up storage space more than anything else
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Sridhar Sarnobat
I've just discovered pooled storage through ZFS and am loving it, but intuitively I think it's riskier for restoring accidentally deleted files since free blocks could get overwritten for any disk. Then again, like you say, the way out of this is learn about snapshotting. I need to look for a good book on ZFS.
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vanadium avatar Ubuntu
cn flag
vanadium

For sure, there is a better chance to recover files from e.g. a simple fat32 partition than from a sophisticated modern file system such as ext4 or ntfs.

However, that is not why you want to move to fat32. While making file recovery somewhat more easy, these more simple file systems provide much less reliability in storing and preserving the integrity of your data than these advanced modern file systems.

Then also, file recovery remains very uncertain, independent of the file system you use. If a file on a fat32 system is contiguous, you will recover it easily. However, if it is fragmented, the chances you recover it fully become very small.

So in the end, do not rely on the possibility of file recovery in your daily workflow.

  • Opt for a solid and robust file system, that is designed to safeguard the integrity of your data
  • Make use of the "Trash" system so you can change your mind when having deleted a file. In the terminal, think twice before using the rm command, or make it a habit to mv files before deleting them.
  • Most important of all make sure making a backup is a part of your daily workflow. Nowadays, with these large small USB drives, it has become so easy to carry a drive with you. Connect it to your computer, and within minutes, you have an up to date copy of all your user data. (Of course, there is more to "backup" to be fully covered, but that is out of scope here)
  • You indeed could work with a mirror copy of your data, created by symlinking all your user data to another place of the disk. The tool Back In Time provides a GUI for such setup.
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Sridhar Sarnobat
Thanks for the detailed answer. My biggest problem is accidental deletion with rsync. I guess rsnapshot is the equivalent of a recycle bin
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vanadium avatar
cn flag
vanadium
rsync makes copies, and will *only* delete *in the copy* if *you* tell it to do so.
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Sridhar Sarnobat
try `rsync --backup --remove-source-files /src/ /dest/` where dest is a symlink to src. You'll be in for a nasty surprise.
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vanadium avatar
cn flag
vanadium
*If you tell it to do so* was what I said. Yes, options such as `--remove-source-files` or `--delete` do delete files. Test such options twice before enabling them in production.
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lepe
better than `rsync` there is [restic](https://restic.net).
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