-=> Mike Powell wrote to All <=-

 MP> What are the benefits of using NTFS over FAT16 and 32?  Any drawbacks
 MP> (including compatibility issues)?  What if I will be sharing the
 MP> drives over an MS-based network that includes Win9x and DOS (and
 MP> possibly Linux and OS/2) machines?

 MP> It looks like I may have to re-install Windows on my main file and
 MP> print share "server" and I am trying to figure out if I want to
 MP> re-install 98, with FAT32, or if I want to install NT 4.0 (with FAT16
 MP> or NTFS).  Opinions are welcome.  ;-)

NT's NTFS includes features like built-in encryption and compression, and the
ability to set sharing access parameters on a file by file basis. It offers
more efficient use of drive space than FAT16.

However, if you have to boot to a DOS floppy because of hard drive or operating
system problems, you won't be able to access the hard drive partition. That can
be a MAJOR problem. Similarly, disk utilities designed to work with Win98 or
FAT systems won't work with an NTFS system.

The file system on the 'server' is not an issue, however... the server software
lets the clients read and write to the shared folders; since the clients don't
have direct access to the file system there, it doesn't matter whether the
clients have support for that file system.

So your Win9x, Linux, OS/2, Mac OS X, or whatever clients can access files on
your NT system-- regardless of whether the NT system's hard drive is using
FAT16 or NTFS.
... -- az: email to alan (at) zisman (dot) ca
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