Which filesystem should I use for long-term storage on a desktop HDD?
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MellowCedar47
I bought an 8TB IronWolf hard drive for storing data copied from several 1TB drives. The plan is to keep additional copies in different locations, and I may eventually add a second 8TB drive to mirror the first. I might also install slower-paced games on it, but the main contents will be photos, videos, project files, and other personal data. The drive will be installed directly in a desktop PC rather than a NAS. I currently use Btrfs on my operating-system drive and ext4 on another NVMe drive, but I am unsure whether ext4, Btrfs, XFS, ZFS, or another filesystem would be the best choice here. I would also like to understand what features matter for long-term storage, such as snapshots, copy-on-write, checksums, corruption detection, and the ability to add a mirror later without reformatting. What would be a sensible setup for someone who wants reliable storage without creating unnecessary maintenance?
Answers
ZFS can be a good choice if you specifically want checksumming, scrubbing, snapshots, and a mirrored storage pool. With two 8TB drives, a mirror can protect against one drive failing, and ZFS can detect certain forms of silent corruption. However, RAID or mirroring is not a backup, so you should still keep separate copies elsewhere. Also, plan the storage layout before creating it: expanding or changing a ZFS pool later may require careful migration rather than simply adding a disk.
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Btrfs is not automatically a bad option for this use case. It supports checksums, snapshots, and scrubbing, which can be useful for detecting damaged data. The important part is understanding its limitations and having a recovery plan. If you want the simplest single-disk setup, ext4 is easier; if you specifically want filesystem-level integrity checks and snapshots, Btrfs or ZFS are worth considering. Whichever you choose, test restores and periodically verify that your backups can actually be read.
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Think of this as two separate decisions: the filesystem and the backup strategy. A filesystem can organize files and, in some cases, detect corruption, but it cannot protect against theft, accidental deletion, malware, or a failed storage system. For important data, aim for three copies on two types of media, with at least one copy stored offsite. A second internal drive is useful, but it should not be the only additional copy.
MellowCedar47: The extra copies will be in different locations, so this first large drive is mainly a way to consolidate the smaller disks and start building a proper backup setup.
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For a single desktop disk, ext4 is perfectly reasonable and has very little maintenance overhead. The filesystem itself usually is not what determines how long the data survives; drive health, backups, and how often you verify the copies matter more. XFS is also solid, but it does not automatically give you the same end-to-end integrity features people usually choose ZFS or Btrfs for.
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MellowCedar47: So adding a second drive later may not be straightforward if I start with one disk? I should probably decide on the layout before setting up the pool.