ReFS vs. NTFS: Everything You Need to Know

While formatting an HDD, you get to choose the file system along with other related settings. You can choose from FAT, exFAT, or NTFS. As per recent reports, Microsoft is testing support for a new file system to Windows 11 – ReFS or Resilient File System. This new addition has pushed many users on the edge and sparked the ReFS vs. NTFS debate. If you are wondering which file system is best for you, read this post for a detailed comparison.

What is NTFS?

NTFS, or New Technology File System, is a popular file system used in many storage devices. Microsoft introduced this file system in 1993 with Windows NT. It was developed as a journaling file system to supersede FAT32 and address its limitations.

With features like file system compression, disk quotas to conserve disk space effectively, and enhanced performance & security, NTFS took over the world by storm. To this date, all the latest storage devices are formatted to this file system by default.

However, despite the numerous benefits, its shortcomings, such as the inability to handle data corruption, limited compatibility with non-Windows devices, etc. gradually came into light.

Let’s look at some more advantages and disadvantages of NTFS below.

These disadvantages necessitated an improved file system. Thus came the ReFS or Resilient File System.

Now that you’re aware of NTFS’ advantages and limitations, let’s understand what is ReFS and how it compares with NTFS in terms of scalability, interoperability, and storage.

What is ReFS?

Mainly intended for enterprise use, ReFS or Resilient File System is the newest file system introduced by Microsoft in 2012 with Windows Server 2012. Originally developed as a replacement for NTFS, it was designed to address its limitations by improving upon the existing features like data availability.

ReFS offered new features like added support for larger data clusters, improved scalability, and resilience against data corruption.

Unlike NTFS, which was built from scratch, ReFS was developed using some code borrowed from NTFS. It uses B+ tree structure containing a root, internal nodes, and leaves. ReFS uses the allocation-on-write or copy-on-write method to execute read-write operations in one go, thereby bringing down the memory usage, disk usage, power consumption, etc..

ReFS takes full advantage of Storage Spaces. When combined with it, the file system uses various background features like automatic repair, automatic metadata integrity checks, and more to avoid data loss. Unlike NTFS, where the user has to type in the CHKDSK command to find and repair any corruption, ReFS has automated this process and performs this check on its own.

There’s another area where ReFS offers improved performance and functionality. When used with virtual machines, ReFS uses block cloning, which reduces storage space consumption by creating linked copies of a master file. These linked copies occupy less space than the original file and can be created quickly.

Another great feature that the virtual machine takes advantage of in ReFS is Sparse VDL. Sparse VDL or Sparse Valid Data Length drastically reduces the creation time of Hyper-V virtual machines by using the zero-filing files technique.

NTFS vs. ReFS

Now that we have a clear understanding of ReFS and NTFS, let’s see an overall comparison.

Which is Superior?

With a clear distinction of the advantages, disadvantages, and features of both NTFS and ReFS discussed above, it becomes easy for us to pick the right file formatting system.

If you are looking for a file system replacement for your personal computer, ReFS still has a long way ahead to become the perfect file system for individual PCs.

With a long list of missing features, ReFS is still not ready to be used on personal computers. However, if you are looking for a file system for a high-performance server or a Hyper-V virtual machine for file-level storage, then ReFS is the perfect choice. It can handle large amounts of data while safeguarding against data loss.