Managing Storage

Adding arrays (Dynamic storage)

Dynamic storage allows the creation of volumes spanning multiple disks (an array).

exFAT

Extended File Allocation Table ■ 64-bit version of FAT (exFAT) designed for use with removable hard drives and flash media. ■ supports large volumes (128 petabytes) ■ file sizes (16 exabytes). ■ Its real use is not for massive drives however but for better performance on moderate size volumes (up to 1 TB). ■There is also support for access permissions but not compression or encryption.

FAT 16

File Allocation Table. ■ does not support the recovery or security features of NTFS. ■ maximum volume size is either 2 GB or 4 GB (depending on the version in use) ■ the maximum file size is the volume size minus 1 byte. ■ the only significant feature is that it is compatible with all Microsoft operating systems plus OS X and Linux, and ideal in a multiboot environment or for removable media that must be shared between different operating systems.

Microsoft's recommendation about partitions on Windows 8

For Windows 8 on a UEFI PC, Microsoft's recommendation is to create a number of additional hidden utility partitions, including one for the Recovery Environment (RE).

MBR

Master Boot Record ■ Maximum of four primary partitions per disk anyone of which can be marked as active and become bootable. ■ extended partition breaks the 4-partition rule, but cannot be active and boot files cannot reside on an extended partition. ■ 1 extended partition per storage device

NTFS

New Technology File System. ■ RECOVERY In the event of a problem, the sector concerned is marked as bad and the data relocated. Transaction tracking logs all disk and file system activity, making recovery after power outage a faster and more reliable process ■ SECURITY - file permissions and ownership, file access audit trails, quota management, and encryption. ■POSIX Compliance - to support the UNIX community, Microsoft engineered the NTFS file system to support case sensitive naming, hard links, and other key features required by UNIX applications. ■ COMPRESSION - NTFS allows file- or folder-level compression. ■ INDEXING - the Indexing Service creates a catalog of file and folder locations and properties, speeding up searches. ■ DYNAMIC DISK - disk management feature allowing space on multiple physical disks to be combined into volumes. ■ drawback of NTFS: not supported by other systems. OS X can read NTFS drives but cannot write to them; some Linux distributions and utilities can support NTFS to some degree.

Windows Home/Core editions and dynamic disks/encryption

Windows Home / Core editions do not support dynamic disks or encryption. There is a cipher.exe tool to allow the user to decrypt files but no option to perform encryption of files or folders.

Volume vs partition

a term used at the OS level to refer to a contiguous storage area formatted with a single file system. This could mean a partition on a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, or a RAID virtual disk spanning multiple hard disks. The term partition is more specific than volume - it refers to an area on a hard disk.

Multiboot

allows multiple operating systems to be installed on the same computer. While popular previously, multi-OS environments are much better implemented as virtual machines (guests running within the host). This side-steps file system compatibility issues and allows both operating systems to be accessed simultaneously.

CDFS

compact disc file system ■ CD File System (CDFS or ISO 9660) is a legacy file system used for CD optical disc media (CD-ROM and CD-R). CDFS supports two main data writing modes: mode 1-has better error correction, mode 2-allows more data to be written to the disc. ■ Joliet is an extension to CDFS that enables long file name support and Unicode characters in file names.

Unallocated space

space on a partition that has not been assigned to a volume.

FAT32

■ Because it has a 32-bit allocation table, it supports larger volumes than FAT16 ( up to 2 TB, though the Windows Setup program will only format partitions up to 32 GB in size). ■ It suffers from the same reliability and security issues as FAT16. The maximum file size is 4 GB minus 1 byte. ■ ideal in a multiboot or removable storage environment with Windows 9x, OS X, or Linux, but it is not supported by DOS.

Shrink Volume

■ Before trying to shrink a volume, disable the hibernation file and pagefile then clean up and defragment the disk ■ you can shrink or extend simple volumes formatted with NTFS and unformatted volumes. Shrinking a volume then creating a new volume on the same disk allows you to "split" the original volume. Shrinking a volume depends on the files stored in the volume. If there is an unmovable file, the volume cannot be shrunk past it.

tools for configuring partitioning

■ Disk management ■ "diskpart" from Command line

Windows that support dynamic disks

■ Dynamic disks can only be read by the Professional / Enterprise (and Ultimate) editions of Windows. ■ Windows Home / Core editions do not support dynamic disks at all so if you were to configure dynamic disks under Windows 7 Professional then move the disks to a computer running Windows 7 Home Premium, the volumes would not be readable. Also, the option to convert from basic to dynamic disks is disabled on laptops. ■ Only fixed disks can be used. A fixed disk is one installed within the computer and connected by SATA. Disks connected via USB, Firewire, or eSATA cannot be converted to dynamic.

system partition or system reserved partition.

■ Each primary partition contains a boot sector (or Partition Boot Record [PBR] or Volume Boot Record [VBR]) at the start of the partition. When a partition is marked as active, its boot sector is populated with a record that points to the Windows boot loader (c:\Windows\System32\winload.exe).

Initializing a Disk

■ If you add a hard disk to the system, you will be prompted to initialize it when you start Disk Management. ■ When a disk has been initialized, you can create partitions on it. ■You can also create a new partition on an existing disk if there is unpartitioned space on the disk.

Four main components of a file system

■ Partition-logical division of a storage device. Drive letters are assigned to represent each partition. Reasons for partitioning: -Assigning the boot system to a different partition than applications and data files can help PC run smoothly and minimize damage to files. -assigning log files to a different partition minimizing the system crash due to large log files. ■ Volume ■ Directory ■ File

Dynamic volumes configurations

■ Simple ■ Spanned - a volume using space on two or more disks. This arrangement is also referred to as JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks). ■ Striped - using space on two or more disks configured using RAID 0 to improve performance. Basically data is written across all disks whereas spanned just uses up space on the volume using the standard file access pattern ■ Mirrored one disk stores a copy (mirror) of the other disk. This provides redundancy (RAID 1). Mirroring is not supported on Windows Vista ■ RAID 5 data is spread across three or more disks. The system writes parity information alongside the data. If one of the disks is damaged, the remaining data can be combined with the remaining parity information to keep the volume functioning. Supported under Windows 8.

FAT32 vs NTFS

■ The format process creates a file system on the disk partition. ■ Drives for use with Windows should generally be formatted using NTFS, which is more efficient and supports advanced features such as permissions, encryption, and quota management. ■ The older FAT / FAT32 system can be used for compatibility with legacy versions of Windows or other operating systems in a dual-boot environment.

Directory

■ also called a folder. is a container in a volume that holds files and other directories. ■ Used to logically sort and organize data to keep related files together.

GPT-style partition format

■ for 64-bit versions of Windows when installed to a computer with UEFI ■ A computer with BIOS firmware will normally have to use MBR ■ Windows allows up to 128 partitions with GPT. ■ supports larger partitions (2 TB+) and a backup copy of the partition entries. ■ A GPT-style disk includes a Protective MBR for compatibility with systems that do not recognize GPT.

Formatting

■ is the process of preparing a partition to use a specific file system. When formatting: ■ identify the file system ■ reformatting removes the file system and data. ■ if your system or disk supports multiple OS, select a file system supported by all necessary OS. ■ NTFS not recommended for disks smaller than 10MB.

Volume

■ single accessible storage area within a file system. ■ can be on a single partition or span across multiple partitions. ■ Volumes are identified by drive letters.

UDF (ISO 13346)

■The Universal Disk Format (UDF or ISO 13346) is an updated file system for optical media with support for multisession writing. ■It is the standard used by Windows (referred to as Live File System) for CD and DVD recordable and rewritable discs. ■There are several different versions of UDF, with 2.01 being the default in Windows. ■Blu-ray reading and writing requires version 2.5 and third-party software.

Disk Management Tool

■Windows provides a GUI Disk Management tool to format disks and manage partitions. ■ right-click Computer and select Manage then select the Disk Management icon under Storage.