A.9
File System Main Specifications
Operating systems allow you to work with data by supporting a
file system
on a
disk partition.
All file systems contain structures required for data storage and control.
These structures usually consist of OS boot record, files and folders. A file
system performs the following main functions:
1.
Monitors used and free disk space (including bad sectors).
2.
Maintains folders and filenames.
3.
Monitors physical file location on a disk.
Different operating systems use different file systems. One operating system
may support only one file system; others may support several.
A.9.1
File system specification summary
Below is a summary of the most popular file systems. Each system is briefly
commented. This information can help you work with Acronis PartitionExpert.
Table 1. Windows file systems.
File system
FAT16
FAT32
NTFS
Operating systems
Almost all
Windows
95OSR2/98/Me,
2000/XP, Linux
Windows
NT/2000/XP,
Linux (for read-
ing)
Max. partition size
4 GB (2 GB
for
Windows
95OSR2/98/Me)
2 TB
16 EB
Max. file size
Limited by parti-
tion size
4 GB
Limited by parti-
tion size
Max. filename length
255 255 32767
Restoration (logging)
No
No
Yes
Max. files in root
Set at formatting
Unlimited
Unlimited
Max. clusters/blocks
~2
16
~2
28
~2
48
Cluster/block size
512 Bytes – 64
KB
512 bytes – 64
KB
512 bytes – 64
KB
File record table/I-node
No
No
Dynamic
72
Appendix A : Hard Disk And Operating System
