Hence, for now by default fsync is used only when interactive.
For more on why fsync often fails to work on today's hardware, see:
- Zheng M, Tucek J, Qin F, Lillibridge M. Understanding the
- robustness of SSDs under power fault. 11th USENIX Conference on
- File and Storage Technologies, 2013 (FAST '13), 271-84
+ Zheng M et al. Understanding the robustness of SSDs under power fault.
+ 11th USENIX Conf. on File and Storage Technologies, 2013 (FAST '13), 271-84
http://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/fast13/fast13-final80.pdf
For more on why fsync does not suffice even if it works properly, see: