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WINDOWS FILE SYSTEMS
A file system is used to organise files into directories, so that each file has a start point and an end
point to segregate the data. A file system also organises files, so they can be stored and retrieved.
Windows supports three native file systens, FAT, NTFS and ReFS
FAT16 and FAT32
FAT (File Allocation Table) is the file system that has been around since MS-DOS days. Bill Gates
supposedly created the original FAT system in 1976, in a hotel room in Albuquerque. The original
FAT, or FAT16 system supported volumes up to a maximum size of 4 GB. The FAT32 file system
supports volumes up to 32GB and exFAT or extended FAT supports bigger volumes. While FAT is
over 40 years old, it is still supported by Windows 10. If you insert a USB drive, then right click on it in
Windows Explorer and check out 'Properties' you will probably see that the file system is FAT32. Most
USB drives are formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, because FAT is supported by so many devices.
The FAT16 file system supports a maximum of 65,524 clusters per volume. FAT32 volumes must
have a minimum of 65,527 clusters on a 32-GB volume, which is the largest FAT32 volume that
Windows Server 2003 can format.
Volume Size FAT16 Cluster Size FAT32 Cluster Size
7 MB - 16 MB 2 KB Not supported
17 MB - 32 MB 512 bytes Not supported
33 MB - 64 MB 1 KB 512 bytes
65 MB - 128 MB 2 KB 1 KB
129 MB - 256 MB 4 KB 2 KB
257 MB - 512 MB 8 KB 4 KB
513 MB - 1,024 MB 16 KB 4 KB
1,025 MB - 2 GB 32 KB 4 KB
2 GB - 4 GB 64 KB 4 KB
4 GB - 8 GB Not supported 4 KB
8 GB - 16 GB Not supported 8 KB
16 GB - 32 GB Not supported 16 KB
32 GB - 2 terabytes Not supported Not supported
NTFS
NTFS was introduced in the Windows NT operating system. Its advantages and disadvantages are
discussed in the NTFS page. NTFS is the default Windows file system and is the only one that
Windows will boot from. If right click on your boot drive, usually c:, in Windows Explorer and check out
'Properties' you will see that the file system is NTFS.
ReFS
ReFS was introduced with Windows Server 2012. Its advantages and disadvantages are discussed in
the ReFS page. Microsoft has a statement of intent to make ReFS the default file system in the future
and it is fully supported by Windows 10, but not for boot drives.
Other file systems
Others ways exist to manage and access data, data that is held on CDs, DVDs or Network drives and
they are mentioned below. Some of these are not exactly file systems, but are still valid ways to
access and organise data.
DFS
DFS (Distributed File Sharing) was introduced in Windows NT, and then developed further right up to
Windows 2016. It is a Windows Server concept, rather than stand alone PCs, which allows you to set
up shared folders deployed on different servers into one or more logically structured namespaces.
The idea behind DFS is to hide the location of a file or directory from the user, so that if a file or disk
moves around between servers then the user is unaware of the details. This is all discussed in
the DFS page
CIFS
CIFS is an open system which lets groups of users to work together and share documents across the
Internet. It is discussed in the CIFS page.
Compact Disk File System
The Compact Disk File System (CDFS) replaced the MS-DOS MSCDEX utility. It is used to read data
from CD-ROM devices and is supported right up to Windows 10.
Life File System
The Life File System, formerly knowd as Universal Disk Format (UDF) in turn replaced CDFS. The
Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) defined the UDF file system to work with CD, DVD
and Magneto Optical storage. It is supported for Windows releases right up to Windows 10.
Offline Files
Offline Files was developed by IntelliMirror, and was introduced to Windows 2000. It is intended for
mobile users who sometimes log into a network, and sometimes work standalone, and allows them to
access locally cached versions of networked files, if they are working stand alone. They can also use
locally cached versions of files when they are logged into the network, which can greatly improve
network performance. Newer applications like OneDrive or DropBox will make this application less
relevant in future.
Windows uses the Synchronisation Manager feature to keep local and remote files in step. Three
Synchronisation options are available:
Manual Caching for Documents
This option provides offline access to only those files that someone using your shared folder
specifically (manually) identifies. This caching option is ideal for a shared network folder
containing files that are to be accessed and modified by several people. This is the default
option when you set up a shared folder to be used offline.
Automatic Caching for Documents
This option makes every file that someone opens from your shared folder available to that
user offline. However, this setting does not make every file in your shared folder available
offline, only those files that are opened. Files that are not opened are not available offline.
Automatic Caching for Programs
This option provides read-only access to certain files that are not to be changed, typically .exe
and .dll files. Automatic Caching for Programs reduces network traffic once cached, because
offline files are opened locally without accessing the network versions in any way, and
generally start and run faster than the network versions.
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Clustered Servers
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Lascon updTES
I retired 2 years ago, and so I'm out of touch with the latest in the data storage world. The Lascon site
has not been updated since July 2021, and probably will not get updated very much again. The site
hosting is paid up until early 2023 when it will almost certainly disappear.
Lascon Storage was conceived in 2000, and technology has changed massively over those 22 years.
It's been fun, but I guess it's time to call it a day. Thanks to all my readers in that time. I hope you
managed to find something useful in there.
All the best
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