ext3 4TB FS limit (FAQ)

[Ralf Gross]

Hi,

I've a question about the max. ext3 FS size. The ext3 FAQ explains that
the limit is 4TB.

http://batleth.sapienti-sat.org/projects/FAQs/ext3-faq.html

| Ext3 can support files up to 1TB. With a 2.4 kernel the filesystem size is
| limited by the maximal block device size, which is 2TB. In 2.6 the maximum
| (32-bit CPU) limit is of block devices is 16TB, but ext3 supports only up
| to 4TB.

Other sources claim that the limit is 8TB (RedHat ES). I'm using ubuntu
dapper drake 6.06 with kernel 2.6.15. At the momente I'm running the i386
port. I successfully created the ext3 FS on a 4,5TB lvm partition
(standard options) and was able to fill the whole FS with data. Afterwards
I checked the data with md5sum and everything seems to be fine so far.

Was it just luck that I didn't see any errors? Can one use ext3 for FS
>4TB<8TB these days? Would it make any difference using the amd64/x86-64
port (Xeon, Core 2 Duo CPU).

Ralf