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Contents
FAT, FAT32, HPFS, NTFS, CDFS, UDF, EXT2

FAT - File Allocation Table

FAT is the original Microsoft file system which has been in use since the early days of DOS. It is supported by Linux, DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. In Windows NT, files can be copied between NTFS and FAT volumes. The FAT is like a database that has one entry for each cluster

The maximum file or volume size in FAT is 4 gigabytes and each volume can support a maximum of 65,535 clusters.

Cluster sizes vary depending on the size of the volume as follows:

Volume Size (MB)	Cluster Size
0 - 32	512 bytes
32 - 64	1k
65 -128	2K
129 - 256	4k
257 - 512	8k
513 - 1GB	16k
> 1GB	32k

It is designed for small disk drives and directory structures. A file allocation is placed at the start of a volume and pointers keep track of the files.

It does NOT provide any file security as does the Windows NT operating system.

Fragmentation is a problem with this system. As files are modified and data is added, the new data is written to a different place on the drive and pointers indicate the link between the old and new data. This hashing of the data can become excessive causing the operating system to get slower as the fragmentation increases. Defragmentation utility programs can be used to defragment the hard drives.

FAT32 - File Allocation Table 32 -

FAT32 is the newer file system from Microsoft. It can not be purchased as an individual product.

It is included with OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) of Microsoft Windows 95 (commonly known as Windows95b) and with the Windows 98 operating system, which includes a program to convert an existing FAT drive to FAT32 without loosing data.

A very important feature is the cluster size of 4096 bytes for drive partitions up to 8 gigabytes. This makes the drive more efficient and can help recover a lot of wasted space for drives that have many smaller files.

Volume Size (MB)	Cluster Size
260MB - 8GB	4KB
8GB - 16GB	8KB
16GB - 32GB	16KB
> 32GB	32KB

VFAT - (Virtual File Allocation Table)

VFAT is the primary file system in Windows 95. It can not be disabled. In Windows 95 in can use 32-bit drivers or 16-bit drivers. It is compatible with the FAT system, but also supports long filenames and can address larger hard drive partitions.

HPFS - High Performance File System

This file system is used primarily by the OS/2 operating system.

NTFS - New Technology File System -

NTFS is the file that comes with the Windows NT 4.0 operating system.

NTFS files and folders can be assigned permissions which restrict access as needed. NTFS as used in Windows NT, has a sector size of 512 bytes which results in a maximum volume size of 2 terabytes.

Fragmentation should be monitored as in the FAT systems. Per Microsoft this is not a problem with NTFS but on the computers used at techadvice.com, fragmentation has been causing slower operations. A nice program called Diskeeper which is made by executive software is a must for defragmentation control.

Volume Size (MB)	Cluster Size
< 512MB	512 bytes
513MB - 1024MB	1KB
1025MB - 2048MB	2KB
2049MB - 4906MB	4KB
4907MB - 8192MB	8KB
8193MB - 16,384MB	16KB
16,385MB - 32,728MB	32KB
> 32,728MB	64KB

CDFS

CD ROM File System - CDFS is a 32-bit windows driver for CD-ROM drives which allow programs to control the drive and read the contents. CDFS is the CD-ROM drive equivalent to the VFAT hard drive format. CDFS is a protected mode version of the MSCDEX.exe DOS file allowing the CD-ROM drive to communicate with the operating system. It is capable of supporting multisession if the drive supports it as well.

CDFS is capable of using Long File Names and the the 32-bit protected mode Vcache.

UDF - 

• Universal Disk Format -

EXT2 ( Second Extended File system ) - ...More Info @ manually.sk Link, 

• EXT2 is the Linux File System. 

CIFS ( Common Internet File System ) 

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