Comparing NTFS and FAT32 File Systems: Features, Pros and Cons

What is a File system? / Basics of File system

Regardless of how big or small the business is, every organization has tons of information that  needs to be stored and accessed on a regular basis. Did you ever wonder where all that data is stored and how it is stored? The information is primarily stored on a computer hard drive, sometimes a USB stick, or nowadays the Cloud. The filesystem is a method that helps organize all this information on a storage device for easy access. 

In other words, it provides a way to organize the data we use into individual chunks(files) and store them in a logical way. This helps IT users easily find the files they need, consume the data on them, and manipulate the files (ie., perform actions such as copy, edit, delete, rename, etc). 

Different kinds of File systems

Each Operating system (OS) deploys its own file system. And, every file system is different. Each file system has a structure and logic in place that defines how files have to be named, and how the data has to be stored. For instance, there are rules on how long the filename can be and what characters can be part of the filename. Some file systems work with disks with high storage capacity, some offer additional security features, and some provide better compatibility. There’s no one best file system for all purposes. You should select the one that works best for you based on your requirement. 

Popular Windows systems

Microsoft Windows offers three major kinds of file systems—FAT, NTFS, and HPFS. 

FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table and is one of the oldest Windows file systems that’s been around since the 1980s. It was initially introduced for MS-DOS and later for Windows, but today, it is compatible with most operating systems and small storage devices. Over the years, Microsoft introduced various versions of FAT file systems—FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT, where the latter two are more common today. The number(12,16, 32) represents the maximum addressable cluster. 

NTFS is short for New Technology File System and was introduced in 1993 by Microsoft with Windows NT 3.1. Today, it is the most widely used file system among Microsoft Windows users. It was introduced to cater to the limitations of the FAT File system and provides enhanced performance, reliability, and security. 

 HPFS stands for High Performance File System and was developed by Microsoft and IBM together. The file system was introduced for OS/2 Version 1.2. It is known for handling large files (2 gigabytes) across multiple hard disk volumes (addressable up to 2 terabytes) and long file names (up to 256 bytes).

What is FAT32?

The most advanced version of the FAT file system is FAT32. The most evolved version of the FAT file system is FAT32. With FAT32, Microsoft aimed to overcome the limitations of FAT16 and accommodate larger volume sizes. Its been around since Windows 95  and continues to remain popular as it is highly compatible with most operating systems (Linux, MAC) and removable hardware devices.  FAT32 supports files smaller than 4GB and partitions with a maximum size of 8TB.

How does FAT32 work?

Just like its predecessors (FAT12 and FAT16), FAT32 adopts a similar organizational structure. In this file system, each file is represented as a linked list of blocks, also referred to as clusters. So whenever a new file is created, the file is broken down into multiple clusters and stored on the disk. These clusters are often distributed across the disk; they aren’t necessarily placed adjacent to each other. So, the File allocation table works as an index that records and maps the locations of these clusters. It indicates the sequence in which the clusters are stored on the disk. 

So whenever a user wants to read a file, the system will first check the root directory for the first cluster of each file in that directory. Then the system can traverse the FAT, looking up the cluster number of each successive part of the file as a cluster chain until the end of the file is reached.

What is NTFS?

NTFS is the latest version of Windows filesystem, and most Windows computers today are equipped with the NTFS file system. It allows users to create large files with long filenames and provides the most efficient way to store and retrieve data. 

How does NTFS work?

Like FAT and FAT32,  NTFS also uses clusters to store data files. However, the size of the clusters does not depend upon the size of the disk or partition. It uses small clusters that help to use disk space more effectively. The default cluster size in NTFS is 4k, however, one can choose a smaller size, too. This ability to use small clusters enables NTFS to provide good performance, especially on large drives. 

NTFS uses an advanced data structure called the Master File Table (MFT) to record the location of the scattered clusters. And, it also contains meta-data about the files. That is,  information such as includes file creation dates, entry modified dates, access dates, physical and logical file sizes, and access control lists of the files.There are a few attributes that make NTFS stand apart from the other file systems. It incorporates properties such as security access control lists and file system journaling.

A quick comparison between NTFS and FAT32

NTFS vs FAT32: Which one should you choose?

Unfortunately, there’s no one winner. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. You need to choose the one that works best for you. 

The biggest advantage of FAT32 is that almost all operating systems can read from and write to it. That’s why users still use it to transfer a limited amount of data between otherwise incompatible systems like Windows and macOS. It may not be as secure as NTFS, but it works great with portable storage devices such as USB flash drives, SD cards, and flash-based memory cards, as long as the file size is less than 4GB. Besides, you can even use it for Digital cameras, Smart TVs, and Gaming consoles like the Xbox One, PS3, and PS4.