What Is The Files And Streams Concept In NTFS?

• First of all the required element is the evidence in MFT. As it was said on top of all disk files are mentioned in MFT. All in order about a file apart from data itself is stored in this position: a categorizer name, its dimension, breaks up fragments position on the disk, etc. If one MFT record is not enough for information, then more than a few records are used and not compulsory one after one more.

• Optional constituent is file data streams. The meaning "optional" seems to be a bit weird and wonderful but nevertheless there is not anything out of the ordinary here. Firstly a file may not have information and in this case disk free gap isn't used on it. Secondly a file possibly will have not very big size. Then a rather winning decision is applied: file data are stored just in MFT, in the place free from the master data in the limits of one MFT evidences. The files with the dimension of hundreds byte more often than don't have "physical" image in the elementary file area. All such folder information is stored in one position - in MFT.

Every file on NTFS has a rather theoretical constitution - it has no information, it has streams. Single of the streams has the usual for us sense - file data. But the greater part of file characteristics are also streams! Thus we contain that the base file natural world is only the number in MFT and the rest is not obligatory. The given concept can be used for the formation of rather convenient things - for example information about the writer and the file satisfied as it was completed in Windows 2000.

It is attractive that these extra streams are not visible by standard means: the experiential file size is only the dimension of the major stream contains the customary data. It is probable for example to contain a file with a zero distance end to end and at its deleting 1 GByte of gap is freed just because a number of program or skill has stacked an extra stream of gigabyte size on it. But in fact at the instant the streams are practically not used, so we strength not be afraid of such situations though they are theoretically likely. Just keep in mind that the folder on NTFS is greatly deeper and more global idea than it is possible to visualize just observing the disk directories.