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  • "Windows 11 is getting ReFS support: what it means for you?"

    From Lynn McGuire@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jan 25 15:31:47 2023
    "Windows 11 is getting ReFS support: what it means for you?"
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/24/windows-11-is-getting-refs-support/

    "Recent Windows 11 Insider builds include support for ReFS, the
    Resilient File System. The file system is currently only available in
    Windows server operating systems, but not in client systems. Could this
    feature mean the end of NTFS? Is ReFS as safe as NTFS?"

    Lynn

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Lynn McGuire on Wed Jan 25 23:47:56 2023
    Lynn McGuire <[email protected]> wrote:

    "Windows 11 is getting ReFS support: what it means for you?"
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/01/24/windows-11-is-getting-refs-support/

    "Recent Windows 11 Insider builds include support for ReFS, the
    Resilient File System. The file system is currently only available in
    Windows server operating systems, but not in client systems. Could this feature mean the end of NTFS? Is ReFS as safe as NTFS?"

    Microsoft has tried to switch to a databased file system for a while. I remember when they promised such a file system for Windows 7, but it
    never appeared. Don't remember what they called it (wasn't ReFS, but
    maybe they had a different name for workstation file system versus implementation on server hosts). Could be ReFS was their modified
    approach to a full-databased file system.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReFS
    "ReFS uses B+ trees for all on-disk structures, including all metadata
    and file data.[2][8] Metadata and file data are organized into tables
    similar to a relational database."

    The problem I see is the lack of ReFS in all the drive tools. How many partitioning tools (often needed as replacement for Disk Management in
    Windows) support ReFS? What about backup programs that incorporate NTFS journaling to ensure data integrity? Does ReFS support VSS (Volume
    Shadow Copy) to allow backups without interference with locked files?

    "ReFS lacks support for several important features that NTFS supports.
    Major features that are missing include file system compression and
    encryption support, support for disk quotas and removable media, or
    booting."

    That means file-level encryption is lost, and so is volume-level
    encryption (e.g., BitLocker). That's important to businesses that want
    to secure their data, especially on laptops given to employees for use
    during travel or home-use. BitLocker (and Windows 11) want a TPM chip,
    or BIOS firmware, like Intel's PTT (Platform Trust Technology) to
    emulate a TPM chip. I don't know if ReFS wants TPM (chip or firmware).

    Most of the advanced features that are getting ReFS are not applicable
    on workstations, only on servers. Not sure why Microsoft wants to bring
    ReFS to workstations.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Computer Nerd Kev@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Fri Jan 27 07:47:57 2023
    VanguardLH <[email protected]> wrote:

    The problem I see is the lack of ReFS in all the drive tools. How many partitioning tools (often needed as replacement for Disk Management in Windows) support ReFS? What about backup programs that incorporate NTFS journaling to ensure data integrity? Does ReFS support VSS (Volume
    Shadow Copy) to allow backups without interference with locked files?

    Worse for me: there's no reverse-engineered Linux driver for it yet,
    like ntfs-3g, so if someone hands me a drive formatted with ReFS I
    won't be able to read it. I'm guessing Mac users might have similar
    issues.

    Of course I don't expect M$ to care about that.

    --
    __ __
    #_ < |\| |< _#

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Marco Moock@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jan 27 21:49:22 2023
    Am 27.01.2023 um 07:47:57 Uhr schrieb Computer Nerd Kev:

    Worse for me: there's no reverse-engineered Linux driver for it yet,
    like ntfs-3g, so if someone hands me a drive formatted with ReFS I
    won't be able to read it. I'm guessing Mac users might have similar
    issues.

    Maybe someone will create one, at least I hope.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Marco Moock@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jan 27 21:48:47 2023
    Am 25.01.2023 um 15:31:47 Uhr schrieb Lynn McGuire:

    "Recent Windows 11 Insider builds include support for ReFS, the
    Resilient File System. The file system is currently only available in
    Windows server operating systems, but not in client systems. Could
    this feature mean the end of NTFS? Is ReFS as safe as NTFS?"

    I don't think it is the end of NTFS. NTFS will be supported for the
    next ~10 years, think about all the drives with NTFS file systems.
    Maybe Windows can't boot from NTFS anymore, like Vista did with FAT.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)