File Systems

Windows 2000 includes a new version of NTFS, which provides performance, reliability, and advanced functionality not found in any version of FAT. The NTFS data structures allow you to take advantage of new features, such as storage features based on reparse points, management software, and, if the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional computer is connected to a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server network, the Active Directory directory service.

NTFS also includes security features required for file servers and high-end personal computers in a corporate environment, data access control, and ownership privileges important for data integrity.

NTFS uses clusters as the fundamental unit of disk allocation. In the Disk Management snap-in, you can specify a cluster size of up to 64 KB when you format a volume. If you use the format command to format your NTFS volume, but do not specify a cluster size using the /A:<size > switch, the default values in Table 17.2 are used.

Note

Windows 2000, like Microsoft Windows NT version 3.51 and Windows NT 4.0, supports file compression. Since file compression is not supported on cluster sizes above 4 KB, the default NTFS cluster size for Windows 2000 never exceeds 4 KB. For more information about NTFS compression, see Volume, Folder, and File Compression later in this chapter.