Windows file system types

And a file system is the way of storing data that decides how the data are stored and accessed in a disk. It divides data into different pieces and names them separately, so the data can be easily found by users. Otherwise, all the data would be out-of-order and cannot be even found by users. There are so many types of file systems; different file systems have unique features and have their own ways of organizing data.

Some have faster speed, some provide better compatibility, and other has better security. Here are some brief introductions about the different features of these four file systems. If a file exceeds the capacity of singular sector of a FAT16 partition, it would take more space than the size of the file itself. FAT16 is outdated because it has a big weakness: it supports partition with a capacity of no more than 2GB.

It uses bit binary number to hold clusters, limiting the partition or volume size up to 2TB with a sector size of bytes. And it works with most of Windows, even Mac, and game consoles. But it also has a size limit. Second, NTFS also supports encryption and read-only permissions for files.

So, you can encrypt your files with a password or set them to read-only status to prevent any changes. It supports a max file size of 16EB. In other words, unlike FAT32, you are not going to run into an error if you transfer a file 4GB or larger.

Finally, because it supports a limitless max file capacity and is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, exFAT is the default file system for SDXC cards that you use in cameras. Before you format your flash drive, remember that formatting erases all data on the dive. So, make a backup of your data before proceeding. To format a flash drive with an exFAT file system, connect the drive to your computer. Right-click on the drive icon and select Format from the dropdown list.

File systems organize data, but there are no standards across the industry. Different operating systems prefer different file systems.

If you use various operating systems daily, it is better to stick to the default, manufacturer-recommended ones. This technique for handling write errors is known as hot fixing. Hot fixing is a technique where if an error occurs because of a bad sector, the file system moves the information to a different sector and marks the original sector as bad. For more discussion of the advantages of HPFS, see the following:. Because of the overhead involved in HPFS, it is not a very efficient choice for a volume of under approximately MB.

In addition, with volumes larger than about MB, there will be some performance degradation. However, unlike FAT or HPFS, there are no "special" objects on the disk and there is no dependence on the underlying hardware, such as byte sectors.

To ensure reliability of NTFS, three major areas were addressed: recoverability, removal of fatal single sector failures, and hot fixing. NTFS is a recoverable file system because it keeps track of transactions against the file system. Under NTFS, a log of transactions against these components is maintained so that CHKDSK need only roll back transactions to the last commit point in order to recover consistency within the file system.

Under FAT or HPFS, if a sector that is the location of one of the file system's special objects fails, then a single sector failure will occur. NTFS avoids this in two ways: first, by not using special objects on the disk and tracking and protecting all objects that are on the disk. One of the major design goals of Windows NT at every level is to provide a platform that can be added to and built upon, and NTFS is no exception.

NTFS provides a rich and flexible platform for other file systems to be able to use. No longer is a data file a single stream of data. Finally, under NTFS, a user can add his or her own user-defined attributes to a file.

A hard link is when two different filenames, which can be located in different directories, point to the same data. This was done because Windows NT is a portable operating system and different disk technology is likely to be encountered at some point.

Therefore, bytes per sector was viewed as having a large possibility of not always being a good fit for the allocation. This was accomplished by allowing the cluster to be defined as multiples of the hardware's natural allocation size.

In that case, the new content of myfile. File fragmentation puts a burden on the file system because every time a fragmented file is requested by a user program, the file system needs to collect every piece of the file from various locations on a disk. The fragmentation might also occur when a file is written to the disk for the first time, probably because the file is huge and not many continuous blocks are left on the partition.

Modern file systems use smart algorithms to avoid or early-detect fragmentation as much as possible. Ext4 also does some sort of preallocation, which involves reserving blocks for a file before they are actually needed - making sure the file won't get fragmented if it gets bigger over time.

The number of the preallocated blocks is defined in the length field of the file's extent of its inode object. The idea is instead of writing to data blocks one at a time during a write, the allocation requests are accumulated in a buffer and are written to the disk at once. Not having to call the file system's block allocator on every write request helps the file system make better choices with distributing the available space.

For instance, by placing large files apart from smaller files. Imagine that a small file is located between two large files. Now, if the small file is deleted, it leaves a small space between the two files.

Spreading the files out in this manner leaves enough gaps between data blocks, which helps the filesystem manage and avoid fragmentation more easily. A Directory Folder in Windows is a special file used as a logical container to group files and directories within a file system. The inode or MFT entry of a directory contains information about that directory, as well as a collection of entries pointing to the files "under" that directory. The files aren't literally contained within the directory, but they are associated with the directory in a way that they appear as directory's children at a higher level, such as in a file explorer program.

These entries are called directory entries. In addition to the directory entries, there are two more entries. On Linux, you can use the ls in a directory to see the directory entries with their associated inode numbers:.

The limitation can be in the length of the filename or filename case sensitivity. The web page contains your company logo, which is a PNG file, like this:. If the actual file name is Logo. Because in Linux ext4 file system logo. This makes exFAT an ideal option for storing massive data objects, such as video files. As you know, the logical layer of the file system provides an API to enable user applications to perform file operations, such as read , write , delete , and execute operations.

That said, operating systems provide convenient file management utilities out of the box for your day-to-day file management. These text-based interfaces help users do all sorts of file operations as text commands - Like how we did in the previous examples.

This feature is also available in the CLI Command prompt or Terminal , where a user can change file ownerships or limit permissions of each file right from the command line interface. For instance, a file owner on Linux or Mac can configure a file to be available to the public, like so:. Please note this is just an example, and you should not set a file's permission to One day, you open the file, make some changes and save it. But what if the system crashes while the older version of the file is being replaced with the new version?

In older file systems like FAT32 or ext2 the data would be corrupted because it was partially written to the disk. This is less likely to happen with modern file systems as they use a technique called journaling. The main purpose is to keep track of the changes that haven't yet been committed to the file system physically.

The journal is a special allocation on the disk where each writing attempt is first stored as a transaction. Once the data is physically placed on the storage device, the change is committed to the filesystem. In case of a system failure, the file system will detect the incomplete transaction and roll it back as if it never happened.

That said, the new content that was being written may still be lost, but the existing data would remain intact. The database file system is a faceted system which groups files based on various attributes and dimensions. For instance, MP3 files can be listed by artist, genre, release year, and album - at the same time! A database file system is more like a high-level application to help you organize and access your files more easily and more efficiently. A database file system cannot replace a typical file system, though.

You made it to the end, which means you know a lot more about file systems now. But I'm sure this won't be the end of your file system studies. A file system defines how files are named , stored , and retrieved from the storage device. Alright, I think it does it for this write-up. If you notice something is missing or that I've gotten wrong, please let me in the comments below. That would help me and others too! By the way, if you like more comprehensive guides like this one, visit my website decodingweb.

I enjoy helping people including myself decode the complex side of technology. If you read this far, tweet to the author to show them you care. Tweet a thanks. Learn to code for free. Get started. Forum Donate. Reza Lavarian. It's a bit tricky to explain what exactly a file system is in just one sentence. Let's start with a simple definition: A file system defines how files are named , stored , and retrieved from a storage device.

Or when you copy, edit, or delete a file, the file system handles it under the hood. However, these concepts remain relevant to other environments and file systems. Why do we need a file system in the first place, you may ask? Imagine a room with piles of papers scattered all over the place. However, a file system changes everything: A file system isn't just a bookkeeping feature, though.

Everything begins with partitioning Storage devices must be partitioned and formatted before the first use. But what is partitioning? A storage device should have at least one partition or more if needed. Why should we split the storage devices into multiple partitions anyways? The recovery and diagnostic utilities reside in dedicated partitions too. For instance, the tech team would appreciate a quieter area. Are you ready?