File System
Windows Filesystems
In a computer, a file system (sometimes written filesystem) is the way in which files are named and where they are placed logically for storage and retrieval. The DOS, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh, and UNIX-based operating systems all have file systems in which files are placed somewhere in a hierarchical (tree) structure. A file is placed in a directory (folder in Windows) or subdirectory at the desired place in the tree structure.
File systems specify conventions for naming files. These conventions include the maximum number of characters in a name, which characters can be used, and, in some systems, how long the file name suffix can be. A file system also includes a format for specifying the path to a file through the structure of directories. Windows 2000 systems can support the following file systems:
FAT, FAT32
NTFS - New Technology File System
CDFS - Compact Disk File System
UDF - Universal Disk Format for DVDs.
EFS - Encrypting File System runs as a service and is used to encrypt and decrypt files on an NTFS file system for security purposes. The EFS is not a file system like NTFS since it does not create partitions and control the placement of file data, it only is used to control the encryption of data. See the Section called "Security" in this document for more information on NFS.
FAT Filesystem Characteristics
Used with DOS, it can only support partitions up to 4 G. No spaces are allowed in the file name.
FAT32 or VFAT Filesystem Characteristics
VFAT - Virtual File Allocation Table introduced by Windows 95 which allows long file names. VFAT is not natively supported by Windows 2000.
FAT32 filesystems support partitions up to 32GB.
Filenames up to 255 characters long.
Filenames begin with a letter and exclude " / \ [ ] : ; | = , ^ * ?
The last part is the extension but spaces can be used
It supports file attributes used by DOS such as read-only, archive, system, and hidden.
Won't support running POSIX applications.
FAT partitions provide no local security, only share level security across a network.
NTFS Filesystem Characteristics
Windows 2000 NTFS file systems are newer than Windows NT NTFS file systems. In order for Windows NT and Windows 2000 to use the Windows 2000 file system together, the Windows NT system must have service pack 4 or later installed.
Filenames up to 255 characters long
Filenames preserve case but are not case sensitive.
Filenames exclude " / \ < > : | * ?
Supports built in file compression as a file attribute. Compression is applied to files in a folder if that folder has its compression attribute set. Also optionally sub folders and their contents may be compressed. Compression is not supported if the cluster size is above 4K in size. Moved files retain their compression attribute, but if they are copied they will assume the compression attribute of the target folder.
Provides automatic transaction tracking of disk activity for correcting corrupt or failed operations.
Supports auditing.
Provides sector sparing.
There is a recycle bin for each user.
Windows 16 bit and DOS environments can't use this filesystem.
A master file table is used to save individual file, boot sector, disk structure, and file recovery information.
Automatically makes 11 character DOS file names. When the first 8 characters of long filenames match, the first four DOS file names use the first for characters of the long name, the ~ and 1, then2, etc. After the fourth duplicate name, the first two characters are used, then the next four characters are hashed, then the ~ character then a number. The first two duplicate file names may be: DOCU~1.DOC and DOCU~2.DOC. The long extension is used as part of the extension for the 8.3 filename alias.Directory entries used by long filenames include 1 for the 8.3 alias and 1 for each 13 characters in the long filename.
Provides file logging ability and file recovery.
Supports POSIX.
Maximum file or partition size of 16 exabytes.
Supports file sharing with MacIntosh clients.
The disk is in 8M bands with a 2K file allocation map between each band. The 2K map is a map for the associated 8M band. This structure is called the BTREE and is used to reduce fragmentation.
Supports file encryption with the Encrypting File System (EFS) on Windows 2000.
Allows volumes on remote computers or local computers to be mounted as though they are part of the same partition they are mounted on. This feature is available on Windows 2000.
Disk quotas (tracking of disk space) on a user by user basis are tracked.
Removable media formatted in NTFS can be changed and accessed without rebooting the system in Windows 2000 (not NT).
If installing DOS with NT, install DOS first so DOS will not corrupt the NT boot sector and stop the NT boot manager from running. Floppies are formatted as FAT, not NTFS.
CDFS
The file system that supports compact disks (CDs) is the Compact Disk File System (CDFS).
UDF
The file system that supports DVDs is the Universal Disk Format (UDF).
Filesystems and Windows Systems
Operating System
NTFS
FAT32
FAT
CDFS
UDF
HPFS
Windows 2000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows NT 4.0
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows NT 3.51
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Windows 98
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows 95
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows 3,x & WFW
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
OS/2
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
MS-DOS
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
The FAT file system does not support file compression on Windows 2000 systems. The file compression utilities with Windows 95 and Windows 98 are not supported by Windows 2000.
FAT file systems may be converted to NTFS file systems using the command line convert utility. Once converted, they may not be changed back to FAT.
Windows 2000 contains an NTFS file defragmentation utility which Windows NT does not contain.
Support for Security
Each object has an Access Control List (ACL) which defines users and group permissions for the object. Each entry (ACE - Access Control Entry) in an ACL defines the permissions a specific user or group has for the object. Access token attributes are added to the object's ACL. The user's security identifier (SID) is compared to the contents of the ACL to determine if the user has the correct privileges to access the object.
The NTFS file system supports Access Control Lists for objects.
NTFS vs FAT
Criteria
NTFS5
NTFS
FAT32
FAT16
FAT12
Operting System
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2003 Server
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2003 Server
DOS v7 and higher
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows 2000
Windows XP
DOS
All versions of
Microsoft Windows
DOS
All versions of
Microsoft Windows
Limitations
Max Volume Size
2TB
2TB
32GB for all OS.
2TB for some OS
2GB for all OS.
4GB for some OS
16MB
Max Files on Volume
Nearly Unlimited
Nearly Unlimited
4194304
65536
Max File Size
Limit Only by
Volume Size
Limit Only by
Volume Size
4GB minus 2 Bytes
2GB (Limit Only
by Volume Size)
16MB (Limit Only
by Volume Size)
Max Clusters Number
Nearly Unlimited
Nearly Unlimited
4177918
65520
4080
Max File Name Length
Up to 255
Up to 255
Up to 255
Standard - 8.3
Extended - up to 255
Up to 254
File System Features
Unicode File Names
Unicode Character Set
Unicode Character Set
System Character Set
System Character Set
System Character Set
System Records Mirror
MFT Mirror File
MFT Mirror File
Second Copy of FAT
Second Copy of FAT
Second Copy of FAT
Boot Sector Location
First and Last Sectors
First and Last Sectors
First Sector and
Copy in Sector #6
First Sector
First Sector
File Attributes
Standard and Custom
Standard and Custom
Standard Set
Standard Set
Standard Set
Alternate Streams
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Compression
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Encryption
Yes
No
No
No
No
Object Permissions
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Disk Quotas
Yes
No
No
No
No
Sparse Files
Yes
No
No
No
No
Reparse Points
Yes
No
No
No
No
Volume Mount Points
Yes
No
No
No
No
Overall Performance
Built-In Security
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Recoverability
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Performance
Low on small volumes
High on Large
Low on small volumes
High on Large
High on small volumes
Low on large
Highest on small volumes
Low on large
High
Disk Space Economy
Max
Max
Average
Minimal on large volumes
Max
Fault Tolerance
Max
Max
Minimal
Average
Average
Windows Filesystems
In a computer, a file system (sometimes written filesystem) is the way in which files are named and where they are placed logically for storage and retrieval. The DOS, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh, and UNIX-based operating systems all have file systems in which files are placed somewhere in a hierarchical (tree) structure. A file is placed in a directory (folder in Windows) or subdirectory at the desired place in the tree structure.
File systems specify conventions for naming files. These conventions include the maximum number of characters in a name, which characters can be used, and, in some systems, how long the file name suffix can be. A file system also includes a format for specifying the path to a file through the structure of directories. Windows 2000 systems can support the following file systems:
FAT, FAT32
NTFS - New Technology File System
CDFS - Compact Disk File System
UDF - Universal Disk Format for DVDs.
EFS - Encrypting File System runs as a service and is used to encrypt and decrypt files on an NTFS file system for security purposes. The EFS is not a file system like NTFS since it does not create partitions and control the placement of file data, it only is used to control the encryption of data. See the Section called "Security" in this document for more information on NFS.
FAT Filesystem Characteristics
Used with DOS, it can only support partitions up to 4 G. No spaces are allowed in the file name.
FAT32 or VFAT Filesystem Characteristics
VFAT - Virtual File Allocation Table introduced by Windows 95 which allows long file names. VFAT is not natively supported by Windows 2000.
FAT32 filesystems support partitions up to 32GB.
Filenames up to 255 characters long.
Filenames begin with a letter and exclude " / \ [ ] : ; | = , ^ * ?
The last part is the extension but spaces can be used
It supports file attributes used by DOS such as read-only, archive, system, and hidden.
Won't support running POSIX applications.
FAT partitions provide no local security, only share level security across a network.
NTFS Filesystem Characteristics
Windows 2000 NTFS file systems are newer than Windows NT NTFS file systems. In order for Windows NT and Windows 2000 to use the Windows 2000 file system together, the Windows NT system must have service pack 4 or later installed.
Filenames up to 255 characters long
Filenames preserve case but are not case sensitive.
Filenames exclude " / \ < > : | * ?
Supports built in file compression as a file attribute. Compression is applied to files in a folder if that folder has its compression attribute set. Also optionally sub folders and their contents may be compressed. Compression is not supported if the cluster size is above 4K in size. Moved files retain their compression attribute, but if they are copied they will assume the compression attribute of the target folder.
Provides automatic transaction tracking of disk activity for correcting corrupt or failed operations.
Supports auditing.
Provides sector sparing.
There is a recycle bin for each user.
Windows 16 bit and DOS environments can't use this filesystem.
A master file table is used to save individual file, boot sector, disk structure, and file recovery information.
Automatically makes 11 character DOS file names. When the first 8 characters of long filenames match, the first four DOS file names use the first for characters of the long name, the ~ and 1, then2, etc. After the fourth duplicate name, the first two characters are used, then the next four characters are hashed, then the ~ character then a number. The first two duplicate file names may be: DOCU~1.DOC and DOCU~2.DOC. The long extension is used as part of the extension for the 8.3 filename alias.Directory entries used by long filenames include 1 for the 8.3 alias and 1 for each 13 characters in the long filename.
Provides file logging ability and file recovery.
Supports POSIX.
Maximum file or partition size of 16 exabytes.
Supports file sharing with MacIntosh clients.
The disk is in 8M bands with a 2K file allocation map between each band. The 2K map is a map for the associated 8M band. This structure is called the BTREE and is used to reduce fragmentation.
Supports file encryption with the Encrypting File System (EFS) on Windows 2000.
Allows volumes on remote computers or local computers to be mounted as though they are part of the same partition they are mounted on. This feature is available on Windows 2000.
Disk quotas (tracking of disk space) on a user by user basis are tracked.
Removable media formatted in NTFS can be changed and accessed without rebooting the system in Windows 2000 (not NT).
If installing DOS with NT, install DOS first so DOS will not corrupt the NT boot sector and stop the NT boot manager from running. Floppies are formatted as FAT, not NTFS.
CDFS
The file system that supports compact disks (CDs) is the Compact Disk File System (CDFS).
UDF
The file system that supports DVDs is the Universal Disk Format (UDF).
Filesystems and Windows Systems
Operating System
NTFS
FAT32
FAT
CDFS
UDF
HPFS
Windows 2000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows NT 4.0
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows NT 3.51
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Windows 98
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows 95
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Windows 3,x & WFW
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
OS/2
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
MS-DOS
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
The FAT file system does not support file compression on Windows 2000 systems. The file compression utilities with Windows 95 and Windows 98 are not supported by Windows 2000.
FAT file systems may be converted to NTFS file systems using the command line convert utility. Once converted, they may not be changed back to FAT.
Windows 2000 contains an NTFS file defragmentation utility which Windows NT does not contain.
Support for Security
Each object has an Access Control List (ACL) which defines users and group permissions for the object. Each entry (ACE - Access Control Entry) in an ACL defines the permissions a specific user or group has for the object. Access token attributes are added to the object's ACL. The user's security identifier (SID) is compared to the contents of the ACL to determine if the user has the correct privileges to access the object.
The NTFS file system supports Access Control Lists for objects.
NTFS vs FAT
Criteria
NTFS5
NTFS
FAT32
FAT16
FAT12
Operting System
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2003 Server
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2003 Server
DOS v7 and higher
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows 2000
Windows XP
DOS
All versions of
Microsoft Windows
DOS
All versions of
Microsoft Windows
Limitations
Max Volume Size
2TB
2TB
32GB for all OS.
2TB for some OS
2GB for all OS.
4GB for some OS
16MB
Max Files on Volume
Nearly Unlimited
Nearly Unlimited
4194304
65536
Max File Size
Limit Only by
Volume Size
Limit Only by
Volume Size
4GB minus 2 Bytes
2GB (Limit Only
by Volume Size)
16MB (Limit Only
by Volume Size)
Max Clusters Number
Nearly Unlimited
Nearly Unlimited
4177918
65520
4080
Max File Name Length
Up to 255
Up to 255
Up to 255
Standard - 8.3
Extended - up to 255
Up to 254
File System Features
Unicode File Names
Unicode Character Set
Unicode Character Set
System Character Set
System Character Set
System Character Set
System Records Mirror
MFT Mirror File
MFT Mirror File
Second Copy of FAT
Second Copy of FAT
Second Copy of FAT
Boot Sector Location
First and Last Sectors
First and Last Sectors
First Sector and
Copy in Sector #6
First Sector
First Sector
File Attributes
Standard and Custom
Standard and Custom
Standard Set
Standard Set
Standard Set
Alternate Streams
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Compression
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Encryption
Yes
No
No
No
No
Object Permissions
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Disk Quotas
Yes
No
No
No
No
Sparse Files
Yes
No
No
No
No
Reparse Points
Yes
No
No
No
No
Volume Mount Points
Yes
No
No
No
No
Overall Performance
Built-In Security
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Recoverability
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Performance
Low on small volumes
High on Large
Low on small volumes
High on Large
High on small volumes
Low on large
Highest on small volumes
Low on large
High
Disk Space Economy
Max
Max
Average
Minimal on large volumes
Max
Fault Tolerance
Max
Max
Minimal
Average
Average
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