File Systems as Fast As Possible

NTFS, FAT32, exFAT...what are the differences between file systems, and what does a file system actually do, anyway?
lynda.com message: Sign up for your 10-day FREE trial at lynda.com/techquickie
Follow: / luke_lafr
Join the community: linustechtips.com
License for images used in this video: creativecommons.org/licenses/...

[@thejackofclubs]

_windows_ file systems as fast as possible

[@AliciaBurrito]

+thejackofclubs Yea... shame no mention of ext3, ext4, ZFS, HFS+, ButterFS, etc.

[@TonksMoriarty]

+thejackofclubs Yeah, I was a little disappointed with that too.

[@Alexandro345]

+thejackofclubs Yeah lol, I was like no ext4??

[@RusticKey]

+thejackofclubs No mention of the exts and ButterFS makes me sad.

[@bee8396]

No btrfs wtf

[@sparrow40k]

I clicked on this hoping for a more detailed comparison of EXT4 compared to NTFS

[@Crux161]

Try a more specific search? General explanations probably won't answer a (fairly) detailed question. good luck, happy searching, hope you find what you're looking for. ;)

[@AnimilesYT]

+sparrow40k They used to make in-depth videos, but these days they waste a lot of time talking about random bits and bobs and do not talk about the specifics that I often need to know.

[@Fireballl14]

+sparrow40k Me too, was hoping to learn more on EXT* systems. Guess i will have to do it old fashioned way - to the Wikipedia!

[@rich1051414]

+sparrow40k Their is not a ton of difference at the end of the day. I think EXT4 has a negligable performance advantage over ntfs, more significant if you customize the format for your specific application, but the same is true for NTFS. NTFS tolerates loss of drive power better than EXT4 as well, which is quite the achievement. If I have a server that loses power abruptly, theres a good chance some data got corrupted that ill have to fix. EXT4 is good at safe guarding against file system corruption, but not individual file data corruption. Data corruption like that is rare on NTFS. For something windows made, ntfs isn't bad :) I am a server admin with linux servers so that's the best compliment you'll get from me on that.

[@sparrow40k]

+TKO Jabroni *googles* looks interesting, ty ty

[@1243miguelbravo]

The video should be titled, "Windows file systems."

[@0M9H4X_Neckbeard]

+ShitStainsIII they aren't exclusive to windows though. FAT32 can be used by anyone and even OSX support exFAT

[@xnax1993]

+0M9H4X No, but these are all of the file systems that are supported by Windows, and not one bit more.

[@thisconnectd]

+0M9H4X there are better filesystems available copy-on-write like zfs and btrfs made for logical redundancies. Even fucking ext4 is better than NTFS (data fragmantation what is that)

[@thobiex]

+Lime Icing Well, just about everybody uses windows these days anyway so...

[@xnax1993]

Thobiex That's not even close to being an excuse

[@nO_d3N1AL]

I really wish this video was more inclusive of different file systems (ext3, ext4) and why we need so many different systems and the incompatibilities between them.

[@EliteProductions3129]

When Luke said there was going to be a "Linus Style Segway"; I completely expected a jump cut mid sentence with Luke in a different room and outfit.

[@-__-_-_--__--_-__-_____--_-___]

Segue*

[@EliteProductions3129]

+MinecraftBysup69 Thank you, Sir.

[@vishvassudarshan6314]

+Evan Pilkington I expected almost the same thing!

[@ytgunawan]

+MinecraftBysup69 I learned something new everyday, thanks mate

[@rich1051414]

+Evan Pilkington Ha... Linus? ...style? Hilarious.

[@jorelplay8738]

but where are ext4, xfs, zfs, or hfs+? why is all about windows?

[@DanielDogeanu]

+Bearshape Dennis... ?

[@jorelplay8738]

Daniel Dogeanu Unfortunately, no

[@ThePC007]

I was wondering the same thing. I'm also wondering why Windows doesn't support those, but whatever, we're talking about Windoze after all.

[@guilhermegvb1356]

+Jorelplay Lets say this is Linus Tech Tips, not Linux Tech Tips (I know here is Techquikie, but just for the joke/protest)

[@RainaThrownAway]

+Jorelplay Because most people use Windows. These are meant to be quick little explanations, not in-depth courses.

[@brianphilips1092]

Luke's sweaty shirts as fast as possible

[@optionalcoast7478]

yes

[@csgoplayer6899]

He goes to the gym where he makes his big manly body even bigger and hotter.

[@DarkZerol]

Linus should buff up and grab some FAT.

[@SapphFire]

Haha

[@XiAwesomeGodziX]

+brian philips upvote

[@AmaxterPlays]

Where were the mentions of OS X and Linux file systems?

[@marble_wraith]

+Amaxter forget OS X, HFS and HFS+ suck the ballZ of the dragon while goku laughs at them. as for linux, ext3/4 is the standard but there are plenty of other filesystems that couldve been mentioned, which is probably why they weren't otherwise this video wouldve gone for about an hour since you'd also have to talk about the concept of RAID and how that fits in with it.

[@marble_wraith]

+Amaxter Furthermore no mention of the proprietary file system sony uses on its PS3/4 systems...

[@Crux161]

+Matthew Rath thank you! I was hoping someone would mention these points

[@TimvanHelsdingen]

Exactly what I wanted to say. Also he didn't mention that exfat is compatible with both mac and pc which makes it ideal for external hdd's that you want to use on both systems. exfat does have a bit of overhead so you have slightly less space, but it's still very usefull.

[@brcha]

+Tim van Helsdingen Well, so is NTFS, and he explicitly said FAT is used for compatibility. I don't really know compatibility with whom. DOS doesn't know of FAT32, and all other OSes know NTFS, so there's no excuse to use FAT32 on your flash drive.

[@bikutoso]

I feel "File Systems as Fast As Possible" was to broad of a title, "Windows File Systems as Fast As Possible" would be more fitting with what was shown in the video.

[@oonfive5650]

+Crozix thank you sir

[@slawor4]

I was looking for this comment

[@coolman9899]

+Crozix uhhhh you realize these videos are not meant for power users. . .

[@menfie]

+Baked_Potato0934 You don't have to be some kind of computer expert to use EXT4, in fact it's really common on Linux.

[@landwolf00]

Should be titled windows filesystems. You missed advanced ones, such as ext4, zfs, btrfs, xfs, f2fs, or even refs.

[@JivanPal]

No mentions of ExtN, BtrfS, ZFS, HFS, and the like...?

[@vitalsignscritical]

+Navjivan Pal Can you list all the ones you know pls?

[@Djentlman]

+Vital Signs Critical lmgtfy.com/?q=all+file+system+types

[@jacobmadsen8662]

.

[@patentlypaul1832]

Ext4 is best

[@AndersJackson]

+Patently Paul no, it isn't. It is good for some things though.

[@calvesman.willem]

History of linus as fast as possible

[@calvesman.willem]

pls linus

[@surelock3221]

Random Guy God Churches as fast as possible

[@camotubi]

So lets ignore EXT4 and 3.........

[@techhelpportalextras3007]

I guess will do it the linux way lol

[@nimay13]

Was hoping some explaination on linux/unix or non windows file system.

[@rogerwilco2]

Sorry, but I found this too incomplete, by limiting yourself to only Windows file systems. This is /Windows/ File Systems as Fast As Possible, not File Systems as Fast As Possible.

[@user-tm3fz7qx3s]

IKR!

[@paz5655]

Techquickie always has the best animations... I love it

[@peter_smyth]

I was expecting Freshbooks when you said "speaking of keeping track".

[@DenebTM]

Same.

[@15schmitd]

+Peter Smyth because DENNIS

[@davidrd85]

Would have been nice to mention some of the modern file systems like ZFS and the massive benefits they bring to the table. Maybe an other video?

[@bluephreakr]

Oh wow. I certainly hope you're going to do a Linux followup to this, as there are a craptonne other file systems; Unix file system (ufs) XFS _Silicon Graphics was too lazy to give it a formal name_ Journalling file system (jfs) Hierarchical file system plus (hfs+) _Apple's thing, successor to hfs_ Fourth extended filesystem (ext4) _Also Ext3 and Ext2 but those are depreciated_ B-tree file system (btrfs) _Commonly pronounced as Butter FS_ ZFS _Sun Microsystems was too lazy to give it a formal name_ So on. so forth. There are probably others that aren't listed for proprietary use, or had become super-obscure and forgotten.

[@hypochondriac3194]

The qualities of the file Dennis systems in the quick Dennis-tech video were very fascinating to me. The FAT32 Systems are still used by many older Dennis-style devices, and my Dennis uses NTFS for quickly accessing Dennis files.

[@xXSellizeXx]

Dennis.

[@Cardmaster12]

+Andloo Yunty Dennis backwards is sinned

[@DenebTM]

+Shavery Dennis = Satan confirmed.

[@fredrikcarlen3212]

haha FAT wasted a lot of space. :P

[@Roxor128]

Well, it does. As partitions get larger, so do the cluster sizes. A 2GB FAT16 partition (as large as the system can handle) uses 32KB per cluster, so the minimum space taken up on disk by any one file will be 32KB, and every file will take up a multiple of 32KB, regardless of how much actual information is in the file. If on average, each file wastes half a cluster, then ten thousand files will waste around 160MB, which is a pretty significant chunk of the drive's 2GB capacity.

[@kawaiiyt6861]

Because it's FAT! That's the joke

[@Mark-re5ry]

@@Roxor128 r/woosh

[@Roxor128]

@@Mark-re5ry You're no fun.

[@Mark-re5ry]

@@Roxor128 😂😂

[@vishalbsws]

Should've been named Windows File Systems as Fast As Possible. I came here to learn more about the ext2/3/4, zfs, etc

[@user-tm3fz7qx3s]

Same!

[@walidfakhfakh3660]

@@user-tm3fz7qx3s then gtfo you linux smartass

[@aadisahni]

@@walidfakhfakh3660 why tf are you salty. He didn't say anything to you

[@seventripple777]

Was kinda hoping they would go over other file systems like ext4, brtfs, or zfs

[@joshbosh8495]

Hey Luke's hosting!

[@MarekTheProducer]

You're first

[@XxFadexX]

+Josh Bosh I like Linus better in front of the camera TBH, sorry Luke.

[@GolfWangMedia-incorporated]

Good video. It would be nice to know about the journalled file systems on Linux and Mac though

[@Salehalanazi-7]

I

[@henryread-spinks4060]

why they no show the dank meme

[@ChristopherGoetting]

+Henry Read-Spinks too dank, it's illegal

[@henryread-spinks4060]

+Christopher Goetting what if it was dat boi

[@WetaMantis]

+Henry Read-Spinks mah boi!

[@henryread-spinks4060]

+Weta oh shit whaddup

[@johafo]

Wait. No mention of the partition table?

[@Betacak3]

That's outside of the FS

[@-Glove-]

2:58 this is like the second time I've heard a creepy hey in one of your videos

[@UnivegaSuperSport]

+Link4093 Freaked me out. Though somehow a chat client started running on it's own.

[@ramkumarsr5326]

So I wasn't the only one who got creeped out.

[@emanonmax]

What about ext2-ext4 btrfs raiserfs etc.?

[@elijahbush9742]

where is the mac os x and linux file systems

[@user-tm3fz7qx3s]

Exactly!

[@Xnoob545]

Pro gamers use windows

[@dancecentralYESXD]

@@Xnoob545 But this video isn’t titled “Gaming PCs File Systems” so... your point exactly?

[@Xnoob545]

@@dancecentralYESXD no u dont get what I mean

[@destroyer28100]

I love all the names of the files at 1:18

[@andiCNH]

Is it just me or does lukes shirt look like he's spilled something on it and couldnt dry it enough before filming :P

[@hoggrobinson]

+andiCNH it's probably sweat

[@siloPIRATE]

Can't unsee it

[@Sawowner]

Wait, you store all of your dank memes in a single .png?

[@beaverIAB]

Sawowner But it was only a single meme...

[@ryannash1734]

Sawowner I have a 3 TB harddrive for storing all my extra saucy memes.

[@ErtugrulOzdemir-mf1gl]

Ryan Nash wow my hard drive is 80gb

[@Mortinger91]

What about a quick comparison of NTFS, ext4 and APFS? Would be kinda interesting in my opinion

[@D3w10n]

... a kinda slap-dashed job, no mentions of master file table and master boot record, or Linux/Apple OS specific file systems... ZFS for instance? no?

[@memeghetti757]

I love it when Luke does an AFAP

[@ZukaroTravon]

I was hoping to hear more about things like EXT4 compared to NTFS, and some other more interesting file systems.

[@nhabben1]

+Zukaro Travon If you are interested look into ZFS. Few file systems have anything that can touch ZFS capabilities.

[@teknoman117]

+nhabben1 btrfs comes close, but the main goal of it was two things: a) a license compatible with the Linux kernel (since ZFS is under CDDL), and b) improved small file access speeds over ZFS.

[@verzagen7550]

+nhabben1 While ZFS is nice and the stats of it are cool to check out, the easiest way to use it is to use Solaris 10/11, which really doesn't have a lot going for it in terms of home use. On top of that very few people have any need to run ZPools which is really its biggest selling point (I guess along with a 256 zebibyte zpool size limit). So even with all it's bells and whistles, if you've got a Linux OS, I feel like you might as well stick to EXT4 because even though the max partition is smaller than what ZFS allows, one exibibyte is more than anyone normal person can even use... or afford.

[@bluephreakr]

+Kyle Harris If given the opportunity, I would use 1EB during the course of my lifetime. Like, _use it up_, all of it.

[@verzagen7550]

bluephreakr Best of luck to you. If someday you manage to use that much shoot me a screenshot or something, I'd actually love to see that it's possible without being a massive data center.

[@MrTimcakes]

You should talk about Linux formats like EXT4

[@LIGHTENING110]

You guys explain way better than those people at my University...!

[@MistahMOB]

That linus style segment was spot on my dude.

[@creepinwhileyousleepin]

suggested this topic a long long time ago, and no mention of any non windoz based file systems! linus pleb tips

[@Piipperi800]

Rename this video: Windows File System As Fast As Possible And do plz Mac version

[@nustada]

+AppleFani800 Its called the garbage bin, that's where you put the whole system.

[@Not31337]

Dennis has really dropped the ball by not having the other Dennis systems explained. What a Dennis!

[@chetanyeddula3225]

thoroughly enjoyed this quickie

[@DanijelTurina973]

Mentioning HFS+ and EXT would've been nice.

[@rohanahlawat5809]

Btrfs lmao

[@its_leb]

DENNIS

[@entriphy]

+dennis045 I'm done xD

[@JorgeEscobarMX]

No mention of EXT4/3 file system or even ZFS? lacking video.

[@harryammon2274]

Literally just revised file systems for my computer science course, this makes a good basic summary

[@HimselfXD]

Am I the only one noticing the crackling sound in the recent linusmediagroup videos specifically the ones they released today and yesterday?

[@demoeman]

nope, i was thinking the same thing on yesterday's as fast as possible. it's kinda hard to notice but there's a constant crackling imo

[@HimselfXD]

I thought it was my speakers so I then switched to my headphones which uses a different sound card and had the same problem.

[@Ttomisabeast1581967]

Love how he didn't talk about the Mac's file system -_-

[@marble_wraith]

+Ttomisabeast what you mean the OS that implements HFS+ arguably the worst filesystem ever? If windows did it bad with NTFS, HFS+ is by far worse.

[@loftur243]

+Ttomisabeast ummmmm, yeah.... because you're talking about a mac.... other than editing, pretty much a worthless overpriced p.o.s excuse for a computer... no offense.

[@EvilWiffles]

+Matthew Rath How so? HFS+ is faster and works better mechanically then NTFS.

[@Trainguyrom]

+Ttomisabeast Not any Linux or Unix filesysytems. Not even EXT4! Or ZFS would have been nice, since that's commonly used on enterprise servers with massive partitions

[@jtcp27031]

and what about ext2 or ext3 or ext4?

[@Billybobjoe13245]

Finally, I asked for this so many times!

[@GuvernorDave]

That rip on Linus' segues made me actually watch the sponsor plug. GG Luke

[@Wizkid490]

Dat segue...

[@What_was_wrong_w_jst_our_names]

Segue bruh a Segway is the thing tourist ride in the big city 😂

[@Wizkid490]

+MrCambam99 my bad. For some reason autocorrect won't recognize either of them

[@Luuk3333]

Techquickie is approaching the 1 million subscribers! Also, Dennis.

[@rud]

As the one Windows boot screen once said, built on NT technology, which I guess then means, built on New Technology technology.

[@master_andreas1202]

what about ext4 and ZFS?

[@igru555]

So apparently Linux and Unix don't use file systems?

[@DrawingEnah]

Finally a video about partitions c:

[@trippgs]

I appreciate the video but would have liked to see you touch on non-Windows filesystems. Specifically ext4 and ZFS since they are potentially much more widely deployed.

[@SuperManitu1]

So basicly you presented those stone-age windows filesystems, then please name the video like this And do another one on ext4, btrfs, zfs, and the like

[@jebatits]

KZbin Drama As Fast As Possible

[@theblackmamba190ify]

Love the segway, 10 out of 10.Dennis

[@duanegrosz1856]

helpful for me to understand the difference between fa16, fat32 and ntfs

[@EmperorAvalon]

still waiting for windows regristry

[@victorengland899]

FAT32 to keep compatibility with Linux? Luke, are you drunk? Linux can manage NTFS just fine. Even the very old versions of Linux can do that.

[@rithikkumars1676]

+Victor England Even the raspberry pi can, lol

[@cldream]

But wouldn't you still need something like ntfs-3g and stuff?

[@victorengland899]

ki2ne no. Linux can read and write on any type of filesystem (including Mac's HFS). This tool you mentioned is merely a tool to automount the partitions on boot. Linux is capable of even mounting, reading and writing on FATX (which is the filesystem used by XBOX). For safety reasons, Linux will deny writing onto Windows partitions that are hibernatng (instead of shutdown) so Windows won't crash when you boot. But you can read the partitions and, if you really want, you can force writing in these partitions with a -f on command line.

[@cldream]

Victor England Oh - well I just had problems with writing to NTFS on older distros (which only enabled read-only) but lately it's not much of a problem (the only thing I have issues now is package/dependency management and MTP)

[@NotAMinifig]

+ki2ne yeah, on early 2.6 series kernels ntfs support from the kernel was readonly indeed, so back then you needed ntfs-3g and fuse to mount ntfs read-write, but nowadays there's write support in the kernel too.

[@TheIrfanmd]

Very impressive, you made the concept of file system very easy. Could you please make a video on File Carving.

[@ishaqniloy1532]

Thanks. It cleared my concept.

[@KG_BM]

is that sweat or vegetable oil

[@wobblysauce]

Or something else.. distractions.

[@DavidHanniganJr]

sorry I got to do it, greasy food much?

[@mayahelwani5587]

Good video thanks ... where can i find a video that explains the directory entries for different file systems ? I have an exam the day after tomorrow and they just showed us the structure but i want to know whats the exact data that goes there :/

[@samsam-zu7zc]

okay, now I want to reset (mean: delete every thing) my USB flash drive what should I select? FAT / NTFS / Ext4?

[@jerma984]

Did Linus start working out?

[@IvanRiveraStagea]

+Caboose Banana Nahh, he just found the fountain of awesomeness.

[@reydavid6882]

nah, he just hit puberty

[@dogiz6952]

Linus transforms every full moon.

[@rafagd]

Linux can read and write ntfs just fine. There's almost no excuse to use FAT nowadays.

[@evildude109]

+rafagd I have a printer that I bought LAST YEAR that can only write pdf's to FAT32. So i have to keep a flash drive around for that single purpose. And this isn't some little janky WalMart printer either. It's a home-business type one from HP.

[@rafagd]

evildude109 That's why I said "almost".

[@ozzyp97]

Linux isn't great at repairing ntfs though, so you might not want to use it if your drive isn't regularly mounted in Windows.

[@TheDiamondGames]

+Lord Mortigon because ntfs itself isn't a good filesystem by it's design to work on it

[@ozzyp97]

The Diamond Games - Channel closed​ Exactly, a good filesystem should be easily useable by anyone. The fact that the Linux community reverse engineered support for ntfs while Microsoft can't be bothered to support ext4 says something. 

[@SalvatoreEscoti]

so, for a clean window 10 64 bit UEFI installation, should I convert my usb flash stick into ntfs?

[@ambhaiji]

We need an updated version by Anthony, including all enterprise file systems.

[@CariagaXIII]

extraFAT in 2030

[@catfoosh6381]

can we have linux file systems as fast as possible

[@TheAurians]

+catfoosh Linux supports all of these, the OS just supports them differently. I don't think it'd be pertinent to go into why Linux is different (although I do prefer it over windows for some cases).

[@catfoosh6381]

TheAurian ex4 alone would be really nice but I guess ill have to do my own research

[@TheAurians]

ex4 of course. I saw someone mention that (many mention that) and I completely agree. Yeah, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Cool stuff ( and easy to work with).

[@catfoosh6381]

Random Guy wow you sure changed my mind with that solid argument!

[@TheAurians]

catfoosh Don't reply to him. It'll just waste your time.

[@bigk3608]

Great video! Could you do a video on the windows registry? Would like to know your thoughts about it.

[@francopellegrin4437]

Pretty Dennis good video you got Dennis, hope Dennis make more Dennis file systems as Dennis as possible.

[@jyveturkey1894]

Thumbs down for a dirty shirt. Cmon dude, you're on camera!

[@moniiiiiiiiii]

Duane Ford More like sweaty shirt.

[@SethanderWald]

Typical LMG... only mentioning stuff that has to do with windows... -_-

[@andyouf]

+Levi Guiney Well, they want views and that is what the majority uses and wants to hear about. Not like you are being deprived. In the search box above type what you want to know about.

[@JeffHB123]

"Linus style segway" -> Nailed it.

[@anonymouspoop2]

No zfs? How about an explainaition of journaled file systems? Or unix file system? Or mac os extended? I want moar

[@pntx155]

Does file system affect the performance of flash drive in term of speed(Read and Write)?

[@feynstein1004]

That segway, tho. Good stuff, Luke.

[@edg6779]

My ssd randomly changes format to ntfs and doesn't display the capacity when it's full, is that normal?

[@TomasSandven]

What about Linux/Unix file systems? Ext2/3/4? Btrfs?

[@UnrealOG137]

You took my suggestion. Thanks

[@v-xup6]

need a updated video to include ReFS, as windows 10 now defaults to ReFS when formating

[@WhoWatchesVideos]

Please keep trying the segues, Luke. They're my favourite thing about Linus' videos.

[@shay3355]

Linus's voice goes higher than my grades when it comes to sponsors part...

[@ankimthai821]

can i unplug my computer when I shut it down?or unplug will harm my pc i should always keep it plug in?

[@DerpDerpDerpDerp]

Can't get "Moms spaghetti" out of my head while watching Luke....

[@535interestera7]

Can u tell me ...what's the minimum volume of C drive to maintain if am going to Create Partition ( netSpace = 435gb left out of 512 gb ssd )

[@CINCASTTV]

That Linus segment deserved a like Luke

[@Psyadin2]

Dat feeling of being watched, I was just sitting here formatting my flash drive when I started this video...

[@paradonym]

So, NTFS is still better than exFAT when using an SD Card for additional storage for programs in Windows 10 Tablets?

[@Morning_Dew417]

I have a NTFS 30 gb flash drive 3.0, so sometimes when I put it in the DEP thinks it gonna damage the computer so it restarts. help?

[@d23fme4]

Hey could I please get some help? I have just purchased an external ssd formatted in exFAT however It came with a note saying that if I change the format to ntfs the drive will stop working. This does not seem logical if I change or will it kill the drive?