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eworms,

being a fledgling Mac user of only 5 years, I can't relate back to the very old file types, but being an aged COBOL programmer in the JCL days of keypunch machines and Mainframes (now called "Large Servers" - don't'cha love it?) I can understand the meaning of "proprietary"!

The company I worked at used GE mainframes because we were in insurance, and guess who was a MAJOR policyholder?

None other than Jack Welch's fave company.

pete

That doesn't explain why APPLE offers five different types of MAC file systems.
I can only think of reasons for using two of them. What are the other three for?

Earworms,

I dunno the reason, but I'm guessing that it had to do with the fact that Apple always made it's own hardware. Maybe it was their way of skirting around patents held by other companies..... I know that's how GE was able to make a mainframe computer and not step on the IBM 360 series patents.

Maybe some other member can help us out here.....

Pete

I went to WIKIPEDIA and entered "Journaling File System."
Under "Rationale" they describe the benefits of Journaling. Apparently it's great to have/use in case of an interruption (like a power failure or system crash).

I'm thinking it wouldn't absolutely be necessary to use JFS with my laptop as far as power loss is concerned. If my laptop were ever to crash, it will likely be because of hardware failure, not because of power loss or OS failure. In my scenario data loss would occur either way, because the data will be totally inaccessible, especially in the case of hard drive failure. Lost forever. Good reason to make backups.

I noticed that when I format with only "EXTENDED" as opposed to "EXTENDED JOURNALED" I get more usable drive space. I'm wondering if the former is faster than the latter based on resource usage.

By the way, we Apple user should call it a Hard Disk and not a Hard Drive. Not that it matters.

And under 10.6.2, Apple has changed the way they measure available disk space. They now use the "gibibyte" and not the "gigabyte". The latter is in the power of 2, and the former is in base 10, so that 1 "gibibyte" is really 1,000,000,000 bytes, and not some "1 x 10 to the Nth" power of 2 bytes.

Just more stuff to confuse me!

Pete

Here is a good description of the file systems Mac OS X 10.6 supports.

Mac OS Extended (Hierarchical File System Plus, HFS+)—Mac OS Extended, also known as HFS+, is the legacy volume format designed and supported by Apple for Macintosh computers. HFS+ itself is an update from the earlier Mac OS Standard (HFS) format. HFS+ supports all the advanced features required by Mac OS X, including Unicode filenames, rich metadata, POSIX Permissions, access control lists (ACLs), UNIX-style links, and aliases.

Mac OS Extended, Case-Sensitive (HFSX)—This Mac OS Extended format adds case sensitivity to the file system. Normally Mac OS Extended is case-preserving but case- insensitive. This means that a normally formatted Mac volume will remember what case you chose for the characters of a file’s name, but it cannot differentiate between similar filenames where the only difference is the case. In other words, it would not recognize “MYfile” and “myfile” as different filenames. By adding support for case sensitivity, Apple resolved this issue. However, this is generally an issue only for volumes that need to support traditional UNIX clients, like those shared from Macs or Xserves running Mac OS X Server.

Mac OS Extended, Journaled (JHFS+) or Mac OS Extended, Case-Sensitive, Journaled (JHFSX)—This feature, enabled by default on Mac OS X, is an option for the Mac OS Extended format that adds advanced file system journaling to help preserve volume structure integrity. The journal records what file operations (creation, expansion, deletion, and so on) are in progress at any given moment. If the system crashes or loses power, the journal can be “replayed” to make sure operations in progress are completed, rather than being left in a half-completed, inconsistent state. This avoids both the possibility of volume corruption and the need to run a lengthy check-and- repair process on the volume after a crash.

Mac OS Standard (HFS)—This is the legacy volume format used by the classic Mac OS. This format, though a precursor to HFS+, is not supported as a startup vol- ume for Mac OS X.

File Allocation Table (FAT)—FAT is the legacy volume format used by Windows PCs and still used by many peripherals. This format has evolved over the years, with each progressive version supporting larger volumes; FAT12, FAT16, FAT32. Apple’s Boot Camp supports running Windows from a FAT32 volume, but Mac OS X itself cannot start up from such a volume.

UNIX File System (UFS)—UFS is the legacy native volume format supported by Mac OS X. UFS served as the default UNIX file system for decades. Starting with Mac OS X v10.5, though, UFS volumes are no longer supported as startup volumes. Further, Disk Utility does not support the creation of UFS volumes.:

NT File System (NTFS)—Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server all use this as their native volume format. Once again Boot Camp supports running Windows from an NTFS volume, but Mac OS X itself cannot write to or start up from such a volume. Further, Disk Utility does not support the creation of NTFS volumes.You can add NTFS volume write support to Mac OS X by installing the free and open source NTFS-3G and MacFUSE software bundle: view link blogspot.com.

ISO 9660 or Compact Disk File System (CDFS)—This is a common standard for read-only CD media. Note, however, that “Mac formatted” CD media can contain HFS-formatted volumes.

Universal Disk Format (UDF)—This is a common standard for read-only DVD media. Again, note that “Mac formatted” DVD media can contain HFS-formatted volumes.

Thanks
Where did you locate the information?
There is a somewhat briefer version of all that in the OSX Technology Overview (.pdf document).

earworms,

thanks for the idea...just googled the pdf file and found it. It'll be a "pre-nap" browse later today!

Pete

used to work with a ibm 380 series way back when. my college had one set up to run circuit tests on designs. just input the design, and it will tell you where the faults or whatever else was wrong with design .

Hi Frederic,
I tried your MacFUSE link, it didn't work for me.
What is/was the source of the File System information you provided?
Thank you.