Server Status: File System Consistency Check

What does a file system consistency check (fsck) do? It identifies and fixes system inconsistencies by checking problems within the file system. These issues include inaccurate metadata, corrupted data, or broken blocks. It is helpful to keep a file system stable.

File System Maintenance

Although the file systems we use to store your data are very robust, as there are so many user files to index and update, it is always possible that an error could occur. In order to ensure the preservation of data, it is sometimes necessary to run a file system consistency check (often referred to as an “fsck”). This will check the file system and repair any corrupted data.

There are times when a server becomes unresponsive or hardware malfunctions, forcing a server or file system to be improperly shut down. These improper shutdowns will write the file system to disk. This process can cause data corruption. We mirror each hard drive so that if one fails completely, the other can take over, but sometimes errors are also copied over. Fixing such problems involves checking the file index against the contents of the drive and checking for consistency and the existence and types of data.

We encourage you to make backups of your website on a regular basis or, at least, as often as you make major changes, as we cannot guarantee backups for you.

Summary

A file system consistency check (fsck) helps identify and fix inconsistencies within a file system. Although our file systems are robust, errors can still happen due to malfunctions. Fsck checks are helpful to repair corrupted data. However, we suggest that you still do regular backups of your website.