NTFS vs FAT
Criteria |
NTFS5 |
NTFS |
exFAT |
FAT32 |
FAT16 |
FAT12 |
Operating System |
Windows 2000 |
Windows NT |
Windows CE 6.0 |
DOS v7 and higher |
DOS |
DOS |
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Limitations |
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Max Volume Size |
264 clusters minus 1 cluster |
232 clusters minus 1 cluster |
128PB |
32GB for all OS. |
2GB for all OS. |
16MB |
Max Files on Volume |
4,294,967,295 (232-1) |
4,294,967,295 (232-1) |
Nearly Unlimited |
4194304 |
65536 |
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Max File Size |
264 bytes (16 ExaBytes) |
244 bytes (16 TeraBytes) |
16EB |
4GB minus 2 Bytes |
2GB (Limit Only |
16MB (Limit Only |
Max Clusters Number |
264 clusters minus 1 cluster |
232 clusters minus 1 cluster |
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 |
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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 |
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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 |