Why does the output of df show 5% less free space than is physically present on a freshly formatted filesystem?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Why does the output of df show 5% less free space than is physically present on a freshly formatted filesystem?
  • How to change the amount of reserved space on a filesystem?

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4
  • Using ext2 or ext3 or ext4 filesystem

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