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Thursday, September 6, 2007

NTFS (New Technology File System)

Whenever you are formatting your harddisk, the option for either a NTFS or a FAT file system pops up. Fine you know NTFS is new and better but how.
A file system is a part of the operating system that determines how files are named, stored and organized on a volume. FAT (File allocation table ) was the standard file system developed by microsoft for the MS-DOS. This was used in all the windows till the Windows ME. Then came the NTFS (New Technology File System) which almost replaced the FAT file allocation.
The NTFS allows greater reliability, security, greater volume size etc. In NTFS all the characteristics of the file (like filename, date of creation) are stored as metadata. NTFS utilizes the power of B+ trees to index file system data. The master file table is used to store the metadata about every file present on the volume. In this system greater security is provided as we can restrict access of files to authorized users.
These features of NTFS sure does give them a reason to be chosen while opting for the type of file system for formatting.

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2 comments:

Pete Kennedy said...

Great post with good insight into NTFS... thanks! I'll be sure to share with my students!

Pawan Singh said...

thnx buddy for sharing such anice info....