Re: Windows 11 for Workstations vs. Linux Mint

On Sat, 12/21/2024 5:40 PM, vallor wrote:

On Sat, 21 Dec 2024 09:25:29 -0500, -hh <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com>
wrote in <vk6j4q$2e70$2@dont-email.me>:
 

On 12/21/24 12:36 AM, vallor wrote:

So I wanted to see what all the shouting was about.  Installed Windows
11 for Workstations in a virt, and gave the virt access to /dev/sda,
which is a 1TB iSCSI instance on my machine.
>
Created a ReFS partition on it.  After fiddling around with it a while,
I tried to resize the filesystem.  Disk Manager said "the volume cannot
be shrunk because the file system does not support it".
>
ext4 filesystems can be resized, and are suitable for workstation
applications.  A major reason I went with the "Workstation"
Windows was to evaluate ReFS, and so far, I'm not impressed.
>
RESIZE2FS(8)        System Manager's Manual        RESIZE2FS(8)
>
NAME
        resize2fs - ext2/ext3/ext4 file system resizer
>
SYNOPSIS
        resize2fs  [  -fFpPMbs  ]  [ -d debug-flags ] [ -S RAID- stride
        ] [ -z undo_file ] device [ size ]
>
DESCRIPTION
        The resize2fs program will resize ext2,  ext3,  or  ext4 file
        systems.   It  can be used to enlarge or shrink an unmounted
        file system located on device.   If  the  file system  is
        mounted, it can be used to expand the size of the mounted file
        system, assuming  the  kernel  and  the file  system  supports
        on-line resizing.  (Modern Linux 2.6 kernels will support
        on-line resize for file systems mounted  using ext3 and ext4;
        ext3 file systems will re‐
        quire the use of file systems with the resize_inode fea‐
        ture enabled.)
>
>

So where do you think the problem resides?  I'd suspect the iSCSI
instance ... did you try testing it on a more traditional disk target?

 
The "problem" is that ReFS doesn't support resizing.  NTFS does -- but
ReFS is their "workstation" filesystem, which you can't get unless you
use Windows for Workstations.
 
They'd be better off supporting ext4.
 

You can actually make ReFS on *any* version of Windows 11.
Like, even the lowly Home. You turn on Developer Mode,
reboot, and in the Advanced Storage Settings is an option
to create a Dev Drive. I didn't have room on the Home machine,
and used the Win11 Pro machine across the way for a PhotoOP.

   [Picture]

    https://i.postimg.cc/zv8QJTFL/Re-FS-W11-DEV-DRIVE.gif

what was really funny, is Macrium Reflect, pretended there was
no file system on there at all. Leaving no doubt in your mind
about whether it gets backed up or not. I thought of that as
being "almost special", like riding on the short bus.

But, a Delete Volume and it's gone again. What's not to like.

There is a rule about Windows:

    "If it don't got tools, we don't use it"

This includes things like .vhdx , which is perilously
close to an orphan. One of my requirements for VM containers,
is that they can be transmuted into some other container type.
This is one of the reasons that Hyper-V is not installed on any
machine here. I'm sure the software would work and would be nice,
but the containers suck. 7ZIP tool, by Igor Pavlov, it opens
.vhd files and allows you to burrow into the file system in there.
It doesn't work on .vhdx , and that alone is enough to doom
.vhdx to the dustbin. ReFS still has a similar status.
And as long as tools do things such as "pretending there is
no file system", I think you can see how excited I am about
this.

NTFS has journaling, and normally (most always), survives
power cuts. It cleans up on reboot, and away we go. The Registry
used to corrupt years ago. The Registry now has its own journal.
This means, we no longer get Registry corruption. NTFS then,
is now just about perfect, without any help at all from ReFS.
ReFS is like a museum item, by comparison. As long as it
is not mainstream, what good is it ??? Yeah, I know, technically
it has amazing specs. Great.

   Paul