Speaking non-academic language, fileThe system is how data is stored and structured on some storage medium (computer hard disk, floppy disk, internal memory of a phone or camera, etc.). Those. The concept of a file system includes such components as the organization, structure and procedure for naming information. In other words, the file system of a computer (more precisely, a particular disk or storage medium) is what allows an application program to access files on this media, disregarding the physical type of such media and the logic of location of the requested information on it. All that the program "knows" is the name of the requested file and, possibly, a set of its additional attributes. But now it depends on the file system and system driver how quickly and accurately the program will receive the requested information.
The fat32 file system is one ofoldest among the file systems used in modern computers. By the way, contrary to popular belief, it is younger than its main competitor - the NTFS file system (dates of appearance - respectively, 1996 and 1993). This file system experienced its dawn from 1997 to 2001-2003, i.e. at a time when Windows 95, 98 and Millennium operating systems dominated the market. The fat32 file system is a further development of the fat16 file system, with which all computers under the MS DOS operating system and some others worked. From its predecessor, the new file system is distinguished by a number of important improvements:
- The maximum file size has been increased from 2 to 4 GB;
- the maximum theoretical size of the volume was increased from 4 GB (in practice - 2 GB) to 8 TB (in practice - no more than 2 TB, or even less, but still, for 1996 - more than enough).
Very simplistic file system fat32It is a large table that contains information about each cluster (the minimum amount of storage space that can be reserved for storing information). Actually, fat is deciphered - “file allocation table”, that is, “file allocation table”. Each cluster in the table may contain the following information:
- free;
- busy, but not the last cluster of a file;
- busy, and thus is the last cluster of the file;
- corrupted (data cannot be written to it);
- reserved by the operating system.
Файловая система fat32 может присваивать файлам Four attributes - hidden, system, archive and read-only. In the 80s and early 90s, this was quite enough to meet the basic needs of most users.
"Гонку вооружений" с файловой системой NTFS fat32 lost for several reasons. First, at the beginning of the zero years of our century, Windows XP was the most common, for which NTFS was the native file system. Many users when installing the "OS" agreed with the proposal to format the system partition into a new operating system, without even imagining the advantages or disadvantages of this action. Secondly, fat32 failed a limited maximum file size. Already it was impossible to store on your hard drive the image of your favorite DVD or favorite game. Thirdly, the NTFS file system, which was created for network and server operating systems, initially had the possibility of better management of information access rights, as well as a greater margin of safety from data damage than fat32, which, in fact, was a deep upgrade file system of the 70s.
But there was one class of devices in whichthe position of the "old woman" fat32 is even stronger than that of NTFS. These are removable flash drives and flash cards. Due to the greater complexity of the internal organization, the NTFS file system runs slower with unhurried removable media. Moreover, the success of fat32 in this segment was so great that in 2008 Microsoft was forced to present the next development of file systems of the fat family - the exFAT file system, which is positioned as a file system for removable storage devices with a capacity of 64 GB or more. This new operating system is devoid of many of the drawbacks of fat32. But the story about her is another story.
