NTFS vs FAT
Criteria | NTFS5 | NTFS | exFAT/FAT64 | FAT32 | FAT16 | FAT12 |
Operating System | Windows 2000 | Windows NT | Windows CE 6.0 | DOS v7 and higher | DOS | DOS |
Limitations | ||||||
Max Volume Size | 2TB | 2TB | 64ZB | 32GB for all OS. | 2GB for all OS. | 16MB |
Max Files on Volume | Nearly Unlimited | Nearly Unlimited | Nearly Unlimited | 4194304 | 65536 | |
Max File Size | Limit Only by | Limit Only by | 16ZB | 4GB minus 2 Bytes | 2GB (Limit Only | 16MB (Limit Only |
Max Clusters Number | Nearly Unlimited | Nearly Unlimited | 4294967295 | 4177918 | 65520 | 4080 |
Max File Name Length | Up to 255 | Up to 255 | Up to 255 | Up to 255 | Standard - 8.3 | Up to 254 |
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File System Features | ||||||
Unicode File Names | Unicode | Unicode | Unicode | System | System | System |
System Records Mirror | MFT Mirror File | MFT Mirror File | No | Second Copy of FAT | Second Copy of FAT | Second Copy of FAT |
Boot Sector Location | First and Last Sectors | First and Last Sectors | Sectors 0 to 11 | First Sector and | First Sector | First Sector |
File Attributes | Standard and Custom | Standard and Custom | Standard Set | Standard Set | Standard Set | Standard Set |
Alternate Streams | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Compression | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Encryption | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Object Permissions | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Disk Quotas | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Sparse Files | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Reparse Points | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Volume Mount Points | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
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Overall Performance | ||||||
Built-In Security | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Recoverability | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Performance | Low on small volumes | Low on small volumes | High | High on small volumes | Highest on small volumes | High |
Disk Space Economy | Max | Max | Max | Average | Minimal on large volumes | Max |
Fault Tolerance | Max | Max | Yes | Minimal | Average | Average |