This is the journalling version of the Second extended file system
(often called ext3), the de facto standard Linux file system
(method to organize files on a storage device) for hard disks.

The journalling code included in this driver means you do not have
to run e2fsck (file system checker) on your file systems after a
crash. The journal keeps track of any changes that were being made
at the time the system crashed, and can ensure that your file system
is consistent without the need for a lengthy check.

Other than adding the journal to the file system, the on-disk format
of ext3 is identical to ext2. It is possible to freely switch
between using the ext3 driver and the ext2 driver, as long as the
file system has been cleanly unmounted, or e2fsck is run on the file
system.

To add a journal on an existing ext2 file system or change the
behavior of ext3 file systems, you can use the tune2fs utility ("man
tune2fs"). To modify attributes of files and directories on ext3
file systems, use chattr ("man chattr"). You need to be using
e2fsprogs version 1.20 or later in order to create ext3 journals
(available at <http://sourceforge.net/projects/e2fsprogs/>).

To compile this file system support as a module, choose M here: the
module will be called ext3.