NTFS Explained: Storage, Security, and Reliability in Windows

 NTFS (New Technology File System)

NTFS, or New Technology File System, is a file system that organizes, stores, and manages files on a storage device. It is the primary file system for recent Windows and Windows Server versions. NTFS is used for:

Storage: NTFS allows for file compression to free up storage space. It also supports disk quotas to help businesses manage storage space.

Security: NTFS allows users to set permissions on files and folders to restrict access to sensitive data.

Reliability: NTFS is designed to consistently restore data after a disaster.

File system journaling: NTFS keeps a log of files added, modified, or deleted on a drive, which can be audited. This log is called the Master File Table (MFT).

Cluster Shared Volumes: NTFS can be used with Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) to provide volumes that can be accessed simultaneously from multiple failover cluster nodes.

OneDrive: Microsoft requires OneDrive to reside on an NTFS disk.

NTFS was developed by Microsoft and introduced in 1993 to replace the File Allocation Table (FAT) system.

This is covered in CompTIA A+.