Can we get a complete guide to file system limitations? ---- Very much needed!!! - China DOS Union Forum

For example, FAT16 limits a single partition to 2G, and the hard disk seems to be 32G; in FAT32, a partition cannot be smaller than 512M, and a single file cannot be larger than 4G; NTFS has some too (I don't know those anymore, hehe)
Also, CD file systems have some limitations too: ISO9660 does not support long file names, and it seems it also does not support directories deeper than 8 levels, etc.

In short, different file systems have different rules and limitations on hard disk size, partition size, file size, file name length, folder depth, and so on. If we don't understand them, then it's hard to avoid making mistakes when working with hard disks and burning CDs.

Also, most importantly, let everyone understand why these limitations exist. For example, FAT16 limits a partition to 2G because the maximum total number of clusters FAT16 can use is 65546, and the maximum size of one cluster is 32K, so 32K*65546=2097472K, which is 2G (a tiny bit more).

In addition, if there are limitations outside the file system as well (it seems hard disk size is also related to the BIOS), please cover those too!!!

If you think this is important, please bump it!!! And of course, if you know this stuff, please don't hesitate to teach us!!!

Floor1　nbh002	Posted 2003-10-31 00:00
中级用户　Posts 67　Credits 396
For example, FAT16 limits a single partition to 2G, and the hard disk seems to be 32G; in FAT32, a partition cannot be smaller than 512M, and a single file cannot be larger than 4G; NTFS has some too (I don't know those anymore, hehe) Also, CD file systems have some limitations too: ISO9660 does not support long file names, and it seems it also does not support directories deeper than 8 levels, etc. In short, different file systems have different rules and limitations on hard disk size, partition size, file size, file name length, folder depth, and so on. If we don't understand them, then it's hard to avoid making mistakes when working with hard disks and burning CDs. Also, most importantly, let everyone understand why these limitations exist. For example, FAT16 limits a partition to 2G because the maximum total number of clusters FAT16 can use is 65546, and the maximum size of one cluster is 32K, so 32K*65546=2097472K, which is 2G (a tiny bit more). In addition, if there are limitations outside the file system as well (it seems hard disk size is also related to the BIOS), please cover those too!!! If you think this is important, please bump it!!! And of course, if you know this stuff, please don't hesitate to teach us!!!

Floor2　虚拟	Posted 2003-10-31 00:00
初级用户　Posts 8　Credits 132
Bump

Floor3　Wengier	Posted 2003-10-31 00:00
系统支持　Posts 10,521　Credits 27,736
Some of what was said above is wrong. As I understand it, it should be: FAT12：<32MB FAT16：32MB（not >512MB!） ISO9660 supports long file names, but the length cannot exceed 32.

Floor4　nbh002	Posted 2003-10-31 00:00
中级用户　Posts 67　Credits 396
Actually, all of that was just stuff I'd heard here and there, and I didn't understand the reasons at all!!! So I'm really looking forward to a systematic answer. PS: Once it's done, it would absolutely be worth making sticky!!!