你听说过exFAT吗？在闪存驱动器和移动设备上使用的文件系统方面，它是城里的新手。如果您既是Windows用户又是Mac OS 用户，您可能对(Mac OS user)exFAT很熟悉，但如果您不熟悉，那么您很可能从未使用过这个文件系统(file system)。无论哪种方式，如果您想知道它是什么、何时以及为什么发明它，请继续阅读。我们将在本文中回答所有这些问题以及更多问题：
什么是 exFAT？
exFAT是一种文件系统(file system)，旨在用于USB 记忆(USB memory)棒和 SD 卡等闪存驱动器。exFAT的名称是Extended File Allocation Table的首字母缩写，它暗示了它的前身：FAT32和FAT16。exFAT是旧FAT32 文件系统的更新版本，它是(file system)FAT32和更现代、更复杂的NTFS文件系统（新技术文件系统）((New Technology File System))之间的中间地带。
exFAT 是什么时候发明的，是谁发明的？
exFAT由Microsoft于 2006 年设计，是该公司Windows CE 6.0 操作系统(operating system)的一部分。Windows CE是Microsoft的嵌入式操作系统(operating system)，用于我们今天称为物联网的(Internet of Things)各种设备。甚至在十多年前，操作系统就被用于为数码相机、掌上电脑 ( Pocket PC(Pocket PCs) )、有线电视(cable TV)机顶盒、平板电视(TVs)、媒体中心、便携式媒体播放器、高级汽车收音机等设备供电。
因为Windows CE是一个必须在硬件和内存(hardware and memory)有限的移动设备上运行的操作系统(operating system)，所以它必须使用比NTFS要求更低的文件系统(file system)，NTFS用于更强大的设备，如台式电脑和笔记本电脑。
微软(Microsoft)对这个问题的解决方案是发明一种新的文件系统(file system)，它比NTFS更轻巧，但比旧的FAT16和FAT32更现代。这个新的文件系统被称为exFAT。今天，当您格式化USB 驱动器(USB drive)或MicroSD 卡(MicroSD card)时，在Windows中，您可以使用exFAT作为文件系统，以及FAT32和NTFS。不要相信我们的话，自己尝试一下。
使用 exFAT 的优点
exFAT是针对闪存驱动器优化的文件系统。(file system)为此，exFAT具有一些区别于其他文件系统的主要功能：
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exFAT是一个轻量级文件系统，不需要维护大量硬件资源。
- 它支持高达 128 pebibytes的巨大分区，即 144115 TB！
- 它可以存储非常大的文件，例如远高于FAT32施加的 4GB 限制。如果您好奇，文件大小限制(file size limit)为 16 exbibytes，但这超过了最大分区尺寸，因此存储在exFAT上的文件的实际(exFAT)大小限制与分区的(size limit)限制大小(limit size)相同：128 pebibytes。
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exFAT与许多不同的设备和操作系统兼容。根据Wikipedia，exFAT在Windows XP 和 Windows Server(Windows XP and Windows Server) 2003 中支持更新KB955704、Windows Embedded CE 6.0、带有Service Pack 1的(Service Pack 1)Windows Vista、Windows Server 2008、Windows 7、Windows 8、Windows Server 2008 R2（ (Windows Server 2008)Windows Server 2008 Server(Server Core)除外Core )、Windows 10 和Mac OS X从 10.6.5 开始。大多数相机、智能手机和更新的游戏机（例如Playstation 4 ）也支持(Playstation 4)exFAT 和Xbox 一(Xbox One)。Android的最新版本也支持exFAT ： Android 6 Marshmallow 和 Android(Marshmallow and Android) 7 Nougat。根据这个(this)网站，安卓系统(Android)支持exFAT ，因为它的版本 4(version 4)出现了。根据这个讨论(this discussion)，iOS 7和更新版本也支持exFAT 。
使用 exFAT 的缺点
在我们看来， exFAT(exFAT,)只有一件真正“不那么积极”的事情，那就是缺乏对日志的支持。日记(Journaling)功能允许文件系统(file system)记录对存储在其上的文件所做的更改。这在发生数据损坏时很有用，因为日志可用于恢复损坏的数据。exFAT没有此功能，这意味着当发生意外关机或以这种方式格式化的可移动驱动器未安全弹出时，数据更容易损坏。
exFAT 是如何使用的？
exFAT是一种文件系统(file system)，主要用于格式化U 盘(USB memory)和 SD 卡等闪存驱动器。然而，它也广泛应用于各种其他消费电子设备，如数码相机、电视(TVs)、媒体中心、有线电视(cable TV)机顶盒等。
exFAT 比FAT32 和 NTFS(FAT32 and NTFS)快还是慢？
尽管技术规范使我们相信exFAT是比NTFS更轻、更快的(NTFS)文件系统(file system)，但我们想自己检查一下。比较exFAT(exFAT)与NTFS或FAT32的最佳方法是使用所有这些文件系统格式化我们周围的相同可移动USB 记忆(USB memory)棒，然后使用CrystalDiskMark对它们进行基准测试。我们测试的闪存驱动器如下：Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C（用字母 A 表示）、IronKey D300（用字母 B 表示）和SanDisk Ultra Fit（用字母 C 表示）。您可以在下面看到我们在使用exFAT时在所有三款设备上测量的速度。
以下是我们在使用FAT32时在所有三个记忆棒上记录的速度。
最后，这是我们使用NTFS(NTFS)文件系统格式化它们时的速度。
查看这些结果时，您可以看到金士顿 DataTraveler microDuo 3C(Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C)（由字母 A 表示）在使用exFAT格式化时的写入速度最快，IronKey D300（由字母 B 表示）在使用 exFAT 格式化时读取数据的速度最快。使用NTFS文件系统，SanDisk Ultra Fit（用字母 C 表示）在使用NTFS时读取数据的速度最快，但在使用exFAT时写入数据的速度最快。
最终的结论(end conclusion)是，虽然速度变化不大，但可以肯定地说，如果数据读取速度是您想要的，NTFS是最快的选择，如果写入速度是您最关心的问题， exFAT是选择。(exFAT)
你使用 exFAT 吗？
所以问题是：你在使用exFAT吗？还是您更喜欢NTFS，或者甚至是旧的FAT32？老实说，我们只使用NTFS，但那是因为我们使用了大量运行Windows的(Windows)Microsoft设备。但是，如果我们使用Mac(Macs)，我们可能会在所有可移动驱动器上使用exFAT ，因为(exFAT)Mac(Macs)不提供对NTFS的良好支持，但对exFAT提供良好的支持。我们渴望找到您的意见 - 使用下面的评论分享您的想法。
Simple questions: What is exFAT and why is it useful?
Did you hear about exFAT? It is the new kid in town when it comes to file systems that are used on flash drives and mobile devices. If you are both a Windows and a Mac OS user, you are probably familiar with exFAT, but if you are not, chances are you have never used this file system. Either way, if you want to know what it is, when and why it was invented, read on. We will answer all these questions and more, in this article:
What is exFAT?
exFAT is a file system that was created to be used on flash drives like USB memory sticks and SD cards. The name of exFAT is an acronym for Extended File Allocation Table, which gives a hint for its precursors: FAT32 and FAT16. exFAT is a newer version of the old FAT32 file system, and it is a middle ground between FAT32 and the more modern and more sophisticated NTFS file system (New Technology File System).
When was exFAT invented and by who?
exFAT was designed by Microsoft back in 2006 and was a part of the company's Windows CE 6.0 operating system. Windows CE was Microsoft's embedded operating system that was used for all sorts of devices that we call today Internet of Things. Even more than a decade ago, operating systems were used to power devices such as digital cameras, handheld computers (Pocket PCs), cable TV boxes, flat panel TVs, media centers, portable media players, advanced car radios and so on.
Because Windows CE was an operating system that had to run on mobile devices with limited hardware and memory, it had to use a file system that was less demanding than NTFS, which was used on more powerful devices like desktop computers and laptops.
Microsoft's solution to this problem was to invent a new file system, which would be lighter than NTFS but more modern than the old FAT16 and FAT32. This new file system was called exFAT. Today, when you format a USB drive or a MicroSD card, in Windows, you can use exFAT as the file system, alongside FAT32 and NTFS. Don't take our word for it and try it yourself.
The pros of using exFAT
exFAT is a file system that is optimized for flash drives. For that purpose, exFAT has a few major features that distinguish it from other file systems:
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exFAT is a lightweight filesystem that doesn't need a lot of hardware resources to be maintained.
- It offers support for huge partitions, of up to 128 pebibytes, which is 144115 terabytes!
- It can store files that are very large, a lot higher than the 4GB limit imposed by FAT32 for instance. If you're curious, the file size limit is 16 exbibytes, but that's more than the maximum partition dimensions, so the real size limit for a file stored on exFAT is the same as the limit size of the partition: 128 pebibytes.
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exFAT is compatible with a lot of different devices and operating systems. According to Wikipedia, exFAT is supported in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with update KB955704, Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2 (except Windows Server 2008 Server Core), Windows 10, and Mac OS X starting from 10.6.5. exFAT is also supported by most cameras, smartphones and newer gaming consoles such as Playstation 4 and Xbox One. exFAT is also supported by Android's latest versions: Android 6 Marshmallow and Android 7 Nougat. According to this website, exFAT is supported by Android since its version 4 came around. And according to this discussion, exFAT is also supported by iOS 7 and newer.
The cons of using exFAT
In our opinion, there's only one real "not so positive" thing about exFAT, and that's the lack of support for journaling. Journaling is a feature that allows the file system to keep records of changes made to files stored on it. That's useful when data corruption occurs because journals can be used to recover broken data. exFAT doesn't have this feature, and that means that data can be corrupted more easily when unexpected shutdowns occur or when the removable drive formatted this way is not safely ejected.
How is exFAT used?
exFAT is a file system used mainly for formatting flash drives such USB memory sticks and SD cards. However, it's also widely used on all sorts of other consumer electronic devices such as digital cameras, TVs, media centers, cable TV set-top boxes and so on.
Is exFAT faster or slower than FAT32 and NTFS?
Although technical specs lead us into believing that exFAT is a lighter and faster file system than NTFS, we wanted to check it on our own. The best way to see how exFAT compares to NTFS or FAT32 was to format the same removable USB memory sticks we had around, using all these file systems and then benchmark them with CrystalDiskMark. The flash drives that we tested are the following: Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C (represented by letter A), IronKey D300 (represented by letter B) and SanDisk Ultra Fit (represented by letter C). Below you can see the speeds that we measured on all three devices when using exFAT.
And here are the speeds we recorded on all three memory sticks when using FAT32.
Finally, here's what their speeds were when we formatted them using the NTFS filesystem.
When looking at these results, you can see that the Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C (represented by letter A) had the fastest writing speeds when it was formatted with exFAT, IronKey D300 (represented by letter B) was the fastest at reading data when it was using the NTFS filesystem, and the SanDisk Ultra Fit (represented by letter C) had the fastest speeds at reading data when using NTFS, but was the fastest at writing data when using exFAT.
The end conclusion is that although the speeds don't vary much, it's safe to say that NTFS is the fastest choice if data read speeds is what you want, and exFAT is the choice if writing speed is your primary concern.
Do you use exFAT?
So the question is: are you using exFAT? Or do you prefer NTFS, or maybe even the old FAT32? To be honest, we only use NTFS, but that's because we use a lot of Microsoft devices running Windows. However, if we were to use Macs, we'd probably use exFAT on all our removable drives, as Macs don't offer good support for NTFS but do for exFAT. We're eager to find what your opinions are - use the comments below to share your thoughts.
