NTFS FILE SYSTEM

What is NTFS File System?

The file system used by the Windows NT operating system for retrieving or storing files on a hard disk is called NTFS or New Technology File System. NTFS stands as a Windows NT reporter for OS / 2 HPFS (High Performance File System) and Windows 95 FAT (file sharing table).

However, the amount of improvement is provided by NTFS over HPFS and FAT in terms of scalability, efficiency and security.

The benefits of NTFS are that, compared to other similar file systems like File Allocation Table (FAT) and High-Performance File System (HPFS), NTFS focuses on:

• Performance: NTFS allows file compression so your organization can enjoy increased storage space on a disk.
• Security access control: NTFS will enable you to place permissions on files and folders so you can restrict access to mission-critical data.
• Reliability: NTFS focuses on the consistency of the file system so that in the event of a disaster (such as a power loss or system failure), you can quickly restore your data.
• Disk space utilization: In addition to file compression, NTFS also allows disk quotas. This feature enables businesses to have even more control over storage space.
• File system journaling: This means that you can easily keep a log of⁠ — and audit⁠ — the files added, modified, or deleted on a drive. This log is called the Master File Table (MFT).

How NTFS works

The technical variations of NTFS are as follows

Hard disk formatted

The file is fragmented within the hard disk

Within each partition, the app tracks all the files stored on a particular operating system

Each file is still distributed and stored in one or more clusters or disk spaces for a predefined uniform size (on a hard disk)

The size of each cluster will range from 512 bytes to 64 kilobytes

You can control the size of the collection size based on what is most important to your organization:

Optimal use of disk space

The amount of disk access required for file access

Who Uses NTFS?

NTFS is Widely used with the following Microsoft Application

· Windows 10

· Windows 8

· Windows 7

· Windows vista

· Windows XP

· Windows 2000

NTFS Structure –

Below structure shows the architecture of the NTFS file system –

§ NTFS Boot Sector — This portion contains the BIOS parameter block used to store information of volume layout and the file system structures, including the boot code that loads Windows Server 2003.

§ Master File Table — This portion contains the essential information to retrieve files from the NTFS partition like file attributes etc.

§ File System Data — This portion stores data that is not contained within the Master File Table.

§ Master File Table Copy — This portion contains copies of the recovery-related key records. In the event when there is a problem with the original copy, for recovery this portion is required.

NTFS Features –

· Keep track of file collections using the b-tree directory system

· For each collection, it stores data relating to file collections and other data

· Integrated file compression

· AN ACL (access control list) that enables the server administrator to determine who can be granted access to certain files

· Data security on both random and removable disks

NTFS File System Advantages:

There are several advantages to the NTFS file system compared to predecessors such as FAT. Some of these are:

Filenames are saved in NTFS using UNICODE

· For NTFS fixed capacity, files can be easily accessed and their names are displayed correctly regardless of the system’s default encoding.

· Security The installed security system exists in NTFS which controls file sharing between users.

· Privacy is guaranteed by various levels of permissions, groups, and owners.

· Files and folders can be encrypted or decrypted in NTFS while writing or reading them.

· NTFS has the ability to successfully handle large sections and files.

Drawbacks of NTFS

The primary disadvantage of NTFS is that its modern capabilities aren’t accessible to older technology. And, because NTFS is designed to work with a Windows operating system, devices that operated from Mac or Android aren’t always compatible. For example:

1. Mac OS computers can read NTFS formatted drives, but they can only get written to NTFS with the help of third-party software

2. Media devices like DVD players, TVs, and digital cameras are likely too old to leverage NTFS storage devices