Seagate BlackArmor WS 110 BlackArmor PS User Guide - Page 115

A.2.2, FAT32, Linux Ext2, Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista. FAT32 is an evolved version of FAT16. Its main - 2 tb

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number of sectors. FAT stores information about what clusters are free, what clusters are bad, and also defines in which clusters files are stored. The FAT16 file system has a 2GB limit that permits a maximum 65,507 clusters that are 32KB in size. (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista support partitions up to 4GB with up to 64KB clusters). Usually the smallest cluster size is used to make the total cluster amount within the 65,507 range. The larger a partition, the larger its clusters. Usually the larger the cluster size, the more disk space is wasted. A single byte of data could use up one cluster, whether the cluster size is 32KB or 64KB. Like many other file systems, the FAT16 file system has a root folder. Unlike others, however, its root folder is stored in a special place and is limited in size (standard formatting produces a 512-item root folder). Initially, FAT16 had limitations on file names. They could only be eight characters long, plus a dot, plus three characters of the name extension. However, long-name support in Windows 95 and Windows NT bypassed this limitation. The OS/2 operating system also supports long names, but does so in a different way. A.2.2 FAT32 The FAT32 file system was introduced in Windows 95 OSR2. It is also supported by Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista. FAT32 is an evolved version of FAT16. Its main differences from FAT16 are 28-bit cluster numbers and a more flexible root, whose size is unlimited. The reasons FAT32 appeared are the support of large hard disks (over 8GB in capacity) and the impossibility of implementing any more complex file system into MS-DOS, which is still the basis for Windows 98/Me. The maximum FAT32 disk size is 2 terabytes (1 terabyte, or TB, is equal to 1024 gigabytes, or GB). A.2.3 NTFS NTFS is the main file system for Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. Its structure is closed, so no other operating system is fully supported. The main structure of NTFS is the MFT (master file table). NTFS stores a copy of the critical part of the MFT to reduce the possibility of data damage and loss. All other NTFS data structures are special files. NTFS stands for NT File System. Like FAT, NTFS uses clusters to store files, but cluster size does not depend on partition size. NTFS is a 64-bit file system. It uses unicode to store file names. It is also a journaling (failure-protected) file system, and supports compression and encryption. Files in folders are indexed to speed up file search. A.2.4 Linux Ext2 Ext2 is one of the main file systems for the Linux operating system. Ext2 is a 32-bit system. Its maximum size is 16TB. The main data structure that describes a file is an i-node. A place to store the table of all i-nodes has to be allocated in advance (during formatting). A.2.5 Linux Ext3 Officially introduced with its version 7.2 of the Linux operating system, Ext3 is the Red Hat Linux journaling file system. It is forward and backward compatible with Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Acronis. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2009 Seagate Technology LLC. All Rights Reserved. 115

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number of sectors. FAT stores information about what clusters are free, what
clusters are bad, and also defines in which clusters files are stored.
The FAT16 file system has a 2GB limit that permits a maximum 65,507 clusters that
are 32KB in size. (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista support partitions up to 4GB with up
to 64KB clusters). Usually the smallest cluster size is used to make the total cluster
amount within the 65,507 range. The larger a partition, the larger its clusters.
Usually the larger the cluster size, the more disk space is wasted. A single byte of data
could use up one cluster, whether the cluster size is 32KB or 64KB.
Like many other file systems, the FAT16 file system has a root folder. Unlike others,
however, its root folder is stored in a special place and is limited in size (standard
formatting produces a 512-item root folder).
Initially, FAT16 had limitations on file names. They could only be eight characters
long, plus a dot, plus three characters of the name extension. However, long-name
support in Windows 95 and Windows NT bypassed this limitation. The OS/2
operating system also supports long names, but does so in a different way.
A.2.2
FAT32
The FAT32 file system was introduced in Windows 95 OSR2. It is also supported by
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista. FAT32 is an evolved version of FAT16. Its main
differences from FAT16 are 28-bit cluster numbers and a more flexible root, whose
size is unlimited. The reasons FAT32 appeared are the support of large hard disks
(over 8GB in capacity) and the impossibility of implementing any more complex file
system into MS-DOS, which is still the basis for Windows 98/Me.
The maximum FAT32 disk size is 2 terabytes (1 terabyte, or TB, is equal to 1024
gigabytes, or GB).
A.2.3
NTFS
NTFS is the main file system for Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista. Its structure is closed,
so no other operating system is fully supported. The main structure of NTFS is the
MFT (master file table). NTFS stores a copy of the critical part of the MFT to reduce
the possibility of data damage and loss. All other NTFS data structures are special
files. NTFS stands for NT File System.
Like FAT, NTFS uses clusters to store files, but cluster size does not depend on
partition size. NTFS is a 64-bit file system. It uses unicode to store file names. It is
also a journaling (failure-protected) file system, and supports compression and
encryption.
Files in folders are indexed to speed up file search.
A.2.4
Linux Ext2
Ext2 is one of the main file systems for the Linux operating system. Ext2 is a 32-bit
system. Its maximum size is 16TB. The main data structure that describes a file is
an i–node. A place to store the table of all i-nodes has to be allocated in advance
(during formatting).
A.2.5
Linux Ext3
Officially introduced with its version 7.2 of the Linux operating system, Ext3 is the
Red Hat Linux journaling file system. It is forward and backward compatible with
Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Acronis. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2009 Seagate Technology LLC. All Rights Reserved.
115