08-12-2018, 12:59 PM
File Systems
• FAT vs. NTFS: FAT (file allocation table) is an old-school format. FAT has less overhead than NTFS but can easily corrupt if not shut down properly. All file info is in one table. NTFS has info spread out, with backup copies of important elements, and is much more robust. Size: NTFS 256TB and up. FAT and exFAT I believe 128GB. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS
• Cluster vs. sector: one cluster is N * sector. Clusters are used in file systems as a bigger unit than sectors to reduce overhead.
• MFT: master file table, see link to NTFS. NTFS stores references to files (and very small files entirely) in the MFT.
• Boot volume: the partition with the boot loader code. The BIOS looks for the boot volume when starting up. Loads it into RAM and executes it. That's why the boot code is an excellent place to inject viruses
• What is a volume? A mounted and readable partition in Microsoft lingo.
• Transactions and why they are being used: transactions use a log so that if the operation fails, for example due to a power outage, the system will be able to undo the disk changes that were incomplete.
• What can cause file system corruption and what can you do to
o Become aware of it: random issues when opening or saving files. Random file access errors. BSOD or power loss occurred earlier. Run chkdsk at the command prompt.
o Detect /identify it: Run chkdsk at the command prompt.
o Fix it: Run chkdsk /f or chkdsk /b at the command prompt.
o Prevent it: always shut down properly. Avoid power loss events by using uninterruptible power supplies and multiple power supplies. Use RAID with mirror option to reduce risk of bad sectors corrupting your data
• FAT vs. NTFS: FAT (file allocation table) is an old-school format. FAT has less overhead than NTFS but can easily corrupt if not shut down properly. All file info is in one table. NTFS has info spread out, with backup copies of important elements, and is much more robust. Size: NTFS 256TB and up. FAT and exFAT I believe 128GB. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS
• Cluster vs. sector: one cluster is N * sector. Clusters are used in file systems as a bigger unit than sectors to reduce overhead.
• MFT: master file table, see link to NTFS. NTFS stores references to files (and very small files entirely) in the MFT.
• Boot volume: the partition with the boot loader code. The BIOS looks for the boot volume when starting up. Loads it into RAM and executes it. That's why the boot code is an excellent place to inject viruses
• What is a volume? A mounted and readable partition in Microsoft lingo.
• Transactions and why they are being used: transactions use a log so that if the operation fails, for example due to a power outage, the system will be able to undo the disk changes that were incomplete.
• What can cause file system corruption and what can you do to
o Become aware of it: random issues when opening or saving files. Random file access errors. BSOD or power loss occurred earlier. Run chkdsk at the command prompt.
o Detect /identify it: Run chkdsk at the command prompt.
o Fix it: Run chkdsk /f or chkdsk /b at the command prompt.
o Prevent it: always shut down properly. Avoid power loss events by using uninterruptible power supplies and multiple power supplies. Use RAID with mirror option to reduce risk of bad sectors corrupting your data
