NTFS - FAT32 and Networking

May 24, 2000
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Question for you guys. If I got a windows 98 machine or Win ME machine (Fat32) t ry to network it with Win2k or WinXP (NTFS) Format am I able to have read, write, exec command access, considering that both use a different file format system. Also I know NTFS is a much more reliable format file system than FAT32 but why? Fat32 uses clusters within a FAT Table but how does NTFS exactly work? How does the file operating system request certain files differently in a NTFS format system than a FAT32? Does it still use a primary search table or a completely different method? Thanks guys for your input.
 

RSMemphis

Golden Member
Oct 6, 2001
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The network does not care what the format is.
Any Win NT/2000 fileserver can send files that are stored on NTFS.

NTFS is better: files can be encrypted, there is user level access control, and I think it's also a journaling filesystem (not sure, can someone confirm that please)...
 

davecason

Member
Jun 4, 2000
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NTFS has tons of great options but the only one downside is that all of these options lead to a lot of overhead. I use NTFS for everything except for my Swapfile/Virtual Memory drive on performance systems. If speed is key, I'd go FAT32. NTFS has some self-repairing features so if reliability is the key, go NTFS.

NTFS has many new options with 2K/XP. Here are a few, both new and old:
Data Compression (File, Folder, or Volume)
Fast file indexing
File and Folder security
Disk Usage Quotas
Usage Auditing (File, Folder, or Volume)
Macintosh File Sharing
 

WageSlave

Banned
Sep 22, 2000
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I read that there is virtuallyno performance difference, and I havnet noticed one myself, in benchmarks