Time: Thu May 15 23:53:35 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id TAA17246 for [address in tool bar]; Wed, 14 May 1997 19:53:57 -0700 (MST) Delivered-To: liberty-and-justice-outgoing@majordomo.pobox.com Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 23:51:49 -0700 To: liberty-and-justice@pobox.com From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: L&J: SLF: FAT16 and Computer Monopolies References: <274338.500.uupcb@factory.com> >FAT32 always uses 4Kb clusters, >whereas FAT16 clusters vary with the size of your drive. >For example: > if your drive is <= 256Mb, clusters are 4Kb > 256Mb-512Mb, clusters are 8Kb > 512Mb-1Gb , clusters are 16Kb > 1Gb -2Gb , clusters are 32Kb So, check my logic here, please: On large (1 - 2 GB) drives, cluster is: 32KB under FAT16 4KB under FAT32 Therefore, FAT16: average waste is 0.5 x 32KB = 16KB x N FAT32: average waste is 0.5 x 4KB = 2KB x N delta waste 14KB where, N = total number of discrete filenames in a given partition 0.5 = average space used in last cluster (1 last cluster per filename) Thus, FAT16 wastes space 8 times faster than FAT32, i.e. 16KB / 2KB = 8 Another way to compute this is: delta waste attributable to FAT16 = 16KB - 2KB = 14KB per discrete filename Therefore, if you have 1,024 discrete filenames, you are wasting 16MB by storing these files under FAT16: 16KB x 1KB = 16MB Do you agree? /s/ Paul Mitchell http://www.supremelaw.com At 09:44 PM 5/14/97 -0400, you wrote: >I don't know exactly how this topic fits in to the charter >of L&J (though, of course, its not the only such topic), but >some clarification is needed. > >Gene Kwiecinski wrote: >> >> >N varies in direct proportion to the physical size >> >of the drive, since the size of FAT16 is fixed at >> >65,536 entries (each arrow "--->" is an entry). >> >These arrows are called "pointers" in computer science. >> >> Not quite. The FAT is simply a *table* showing what space on the drive >> is free or in-use. It's bitwise, so that one byte can mark up to 8 >> logical clusters on the disk. All it is, is a glorified collection of >> "Occupado" signs for each cluster in that partition. > >Not quite. A FAT is *not* a bitmap. If it were, a files could >not become fragmented (since there wouldn't be a way to "chain" >its clusters together), though your *disk* still could. A FAT >*is* a table. FAT16 uses a table whose entries are 16 bits; >FAT32 table entries are 32 bits. In either, a table entry >represents two things for each cluster: > 1) the "occupied" sign mentioned above > 2) a "pointer" (table index) of the next cluster in a chain > >BTW, FAT16 is *not* fixed at 65536 entries. It has a maximum >size of 65526. 10 (it's been awhile - I may be off by one) are >reserved to indicate end-of-file or bad cluster. The size of >a FAT (16 or 32) is proportional to the size of the *logical* >drive (since you may have more than one logical drive per >physical drive). > >And, even if you use FAT32, you are still wasting (on average) >half of a cluster per file (and directory) on your drive. The >advantage of FAT32 is that clusters are smaller, especially >on large logical drives. FAT32 always uses 4Kb clusters, >whereas FAT16 clusters vary with the size of your drive. >For example: > if your drive is <= 256Mb, clusters are 4Kb > 256Mb-512Mb, clusters are 8Kb > 512Mb-1Gb , clusters are 16Kb > 1Gb -2Gb , clusters are 32Kb > >Windoze 95 will not allow clusters greater than 32Kb, though >NTv4 will allow up to 64Kb (why anyone would *want* that, >I don't know). > >I always keep my FAT16 (yes, I still use FAT16, until there >are FAT32 drivers for DOS, NT, and Linux) partitions to 512Mb >or below, so that my clusters will be 8Kb. > >FAT32 does *not* require that your BIOS be upgraded, since the >BIOS doesn't know anything about file systems at all, just >physical drives with their attendant cylinders, heads, and >sectors. Now, if you want physical drives bigger than about >540Mb, you need a recent BIOS, which can translate read/write >requests using <cylinder, head, sector> to some form of logical >block addressing. > >The only new apps required by FAT32 are apps that physically >read/write a drive, such as defragging utilities, etc. And, >the only entries that "point" to a cluster (not a sector) are >in directory entries (which have a few bytes to spare anyway) >and the innards of the file system driver. > >BTW, I *love* the idea of FAT32. I'm sick and tired of having >9 partitions on my system, just to keep dead space down to an >acceptable level. I just wish someone would come up with drivers >for other OS's, and I don't have the time. Even though I too >use System Commander (a *great* program) and Partition Magic >(a pretty good program), the rule on my main machine is that >all partitions must be accessible to all OS's (I *do* admit >to using NTFS on my servers, but it doesn't matter across >the network, and I don't have to like it, do I? :-). > >grier > >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >Unsub info - send e-mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com, with >"unsubscribe liberty-and-justice" in the body (not the subject) >Liberty-and-Justice list-owner is Mike Goldman <whig@pobox.com> > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ======================================================================== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Unsub info - send e-mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com, with "unsubscribe liberty-and-justice" in the body (not the subject) Liberty-and-Justice list-owner is Mike Goldman <whig@pobox.com>
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