When it comes to disk format, everyone must be familiar with the NTFS format. This format is applied to many hard disk devices such as usb disks that we use. So what are the functions of the ntfs file system? Many users do not know what software ntfs is, I believe you will have the answer after reading this article.
1. What are the functions of the ntfs file system
1. NTFS log
This is a very critical function of NTFS, which is used to ensure that its internal complex data structures (more important such as volume allocation map, data transfer operations performed by disk defragmentation API, changes in MFT (Master File Table) records (such as moving Variable-length attributes and attribute tables)) and indexes (for directories and security descriptors) stored in MFT records remain consistent even after a system crash, and these critical data structures can be easily accessed after the volume is reloaded Failed commits are rolled back.
Figure 1: NTFS log
2. Quota
Disk quotas are a feature proposed by NTFS v3. The feature allows computer administrators to set thresholds for how much disk space users are allowed to occupy on supported versions of Windows, and it also allows administrators to track how much disk space each user is using. Administrators can set disk space usage levels for users to be warned about and deny access to disks when they exceed usage limits. When file compression for NTFS is enabled, disk quotas do not affect this feature. When the application queries the remaining disk space available to the user, if a disk quota is set, it will also receive the value of the quota.
Figure 2: Disk quota
3. Sparse files
Sparse files are files that contain sparse datasets. These files will store the content of multiple fragments of the file in different locations, while the content between fragments will not be stored. They are especially suitable for files with mostly empty content and only a small amount of actual data. . When reading a file, the file system driver will return 0 for any non-existent position information, so the file content will appear to be almost all zeros.
Many database and scientific programs sometimes use sparse files. Therefore, Microsoft implemented efficient storage support for sparse files, allowing applications to specify empty (zero) data regions of the file. Applications that read sparse files can use normal methods to read data, and the operating system will decide what data needs to be returned based on the offset of the current position. Like compressed files, the actual size of the file will not affect the judgment of the disk quota.
Figure 3: Sparse file
4. Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM)
Hierarchical storage management is a method of moving files that are not used for a certain period of time to less valuable storage media. When the file is accessed again, the reparse point on the file will determine that the file needs to be used and restore the file from the storage medium.
Figure 4: Hierarchical storage management
5. Volume Shadow Copy
The Volume Shadow Copy (VSC) service preserves historical versions of files and folders on NTFS volumes by copying newly overwritten data to the volume shadow (copy-on-write). When the user requests to restore the old previous version, the old file data will overwrite the new file data. This feature also enables data backup programs to archive files currently in use by the system. For heavily loaded systems, Microsoft recommends placing shadow copies on a separate disk to reduce the I/O load on the system's primary volume.
Figure 5: Volume Shadow Copy
6. File compression
NTFS compressed files use various LZ77 algorithms. With a cluster size of 4KB, files will be compressed in 64KB chunks. If the block size is reduced from 64KB to 60KB or less after compression, NTFS considers the extra 4KB to be empty sparse file clusters, which means they have no content. Therefore, this mode will effectively increase the speed of random access. But when it is written immediately, the large file may be partitioned into many small fragments, and there will be many small gaps between the fragments.
Figure 6: File Compression
7. Encrypted File System (EFS)
Encrypting File System (EFS) provides user-transparent strong protection for arbitrary files and folders on NTFS volumes. Encrypted File System works in conjunction with EFS Services, Microsoft's Cryptographic Application Program Interface (CryptoAPI), and the EFS File Runtime Library (FSRTL). EFS encrypts files using a block symmetric key (also known as a "file encryption key (FEK)"), which is less time consuming to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than using asymmetric key encryption. The symmetric key encrypts the file using a public key associated with the user who encrypted the file, and the encrypted data is stored in the optional data stream of the encrypted file.
Figure 7: ntfs file system
Second, what is ntfs software
What is Ntfs software? To know the answer to this question, please continue reading below.
Ntfs is generally called: ntfs for mac. It is a software for reading and writing NTFS hard drives on Mac systems. Due to the limitations of the mac system, NTFS hard disks (including mobile hard disks, U disks, and Bootcamp partitions) can be recognized and read on Mac computers, but cannot be written to (such as copying Mac files to NTFS hard disks). The NTFS for Mac tool can open the Mac's write permission to the NTFS hard disk, so that the NTFS hard disk can be freely read and written on the Mac computer like a Mac mobile hard disk. As shown in Figure 2, Tuxera NTFS for Mac is an excellent ntfs software.
Figure 8: Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Three, what are the ntfs software
1、Paragon NTFS for Mac
Paragon NTFS is the most well-known NTFS reading and writing tool on Mac, which allows us to read and write NTFS partitions, because in the Mac system, NTFS partitions can only be read but not written by default, but many of our mobile hard disks or U disks are It is partitioned with NTFS, so when you find that you cannot write data to the mobile hard disk or U disk on the Mac, most of the reasons are that you have not partitioned the drive according to NTFS, and you only need to install Paragon NTFS to solve the problem.
Figure 9: Paragon NTFS for Mac
2、NTFSTool for Mac
NTFS Tool for Mac supports NTFS disk read and write, mount, release, management and other functions. Its interface is simple and easy to use. I hope this tool can bring convenience to your work and life. It is a powerful Mac plug-in, users can intuitively read, write, add, modify, delete and other operations on the files in the external NTFS format mobile hard disk or U disk on Mac OS, and at the same time, it can well guarantee the security of data integrity.
Figure 10: NTFS Tool for Mac
3、Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Tuxera NTFS for Mac is a very useful NTFS read and write tool, which allows you to completely read and write compatible NTFS format drives, and perform operations such as accessing, editing, storing and transferring files on the disk. It also includes simple format and hard disk maintenance checks and repairs such as the open source disk manager.
Figure 11: Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Four. Summary
This article introduces the functions of the ntfs file system and explains what software ntfs is. There are many ntfs software on the market, most of which need to be paid for. Among the many ntfs software, if you want to choose a software with high cost performance, you can download and use Tuxera NTFS for Mac.
The latest version of Tuxera NTFS for Mac is downloaded as follows:
https://wm.makeding.com/iclk/?zoneid=34241