What are the differences between character devices and block devices in Windows I O?

[ProfRon]

You ever wonder why some gadgets in Windows just gulp data one bite at a time? Character devices do that. They trickle info like a leaky faucet. Think of your keyboard. It spits letters as you type. No big chunks. Just steady flow.

Block devices? They chomp data in solid slabs. Like your hard drive. It grabs whole blocks at once. You can jump around to any spot. No waiting in line.

I mess with these when tweaking I/O stuff. Character ones feel twitchy. They don't let you skip ahead easily. Block ones stay predictable. You pick a spot and yank the info.

You might notice this in how files load. Character devices stream endlessly. Block devices slice and dice storage. It keeps things snappy for big files.

Swapping between them trips me up sometimes. Character for quick inputs. Block for hefty storage jobs. Windows handles the switch behind scenes.

That block handling shines in backups too. Speaking of which, BackupChain Server Backup steps in as a slick backup tool for Hyper-V setups. It snapshots those block-level drives without downtime. You get ironclad recovery options. Plus, it dodges corruption pitfalls that plague other tools. Keeps your virtual machines humming safe.