How to use bash to test directory limits of filesystem

I need to test how many directories and files I can create on a filesystem (n开发者_运维问答etwork mounted and local (usb) drives). I now use this bash line:

for i in {0..999999}; do mkdir -p $i; pushd $i; done

I know that it probably can be done better and I'd like to know how to. (in bash, not too complicated)

Any file/directory is represented using an inode, take a look at df -i and you should get an overview of the number of files/directories you have the possiblity to create/use.

while (true); do
  mkdir a
  cd a
done

Creates something like ./a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/a/...

The cd method actually works better and faster... My ext4 usb stick starts to mock at about 1040 folders...

And the network part is to test my wins2k3 config, but my virtualbox fails at the moment because I think I screwed something up...