ReFS vs. NTFS: Everything You Need to Know

If you are an individual user, go NTFS. There is simply no competition. If, however, you are an enterprise user, running multiple high performance machines, ReFS blows NTFS out of the water. And that is the long and the short of the ReFS vs. NTFS battle. A key downside to NTFS for enterprise systems is that it doesn't protect data. This means users need to rely on data recovery software like Stellar Windows Data Recovery. 

Both ReFS and NTFS are file formatting systems built primarily for use on Windows OS devices. And here the similarities end.

But before we understand the differences, let’s refresh out memories on when and why these systems came into being. 

NTFS (New Technology File System)

NTFS is an older file system introduced by Microsoft with Windows NT 3.1 in 1993. It has been the default file system for Windows operating systems for many years and offers a wide range of features.

ReFS (Resilient File System)

ReFS is a file system introduced by Microsoft with Windows Server 2012. It was designed to be the next-generation file system for Windows, addressing many of the limitations of NTFS while providing enhanced resilience, scalability, and performance.

So it’s clear:

Each has its strengths and is suited for different scenarios.

Now, let’s dive deep and understand how to settle the ReFS vs. NTFS debate. 

What Is NTFS?

NTFS is short for “New Technology File System”. However, the “new” in that is debatable, with NTFS version 1 being released in 1993.

It has gone through numerous updates since then, and has become the industry standard file formatting system.

NTFS was introduced by Microsoft computing in the early 90’s to replace the prevalent and outdated FAT32 systems. 

FAT stands for “File Allocation Table”. If you want to read more about FAT file systems, click this link

NTFS soon conquered the world. It became an overnight success, having successfully addressed most limitations of previous file systems..

It introduced compression, encryption, space quotas on the disk, permission management, Unicode for non-ASCII support, and a whole lot more.

NTFS is so good that it remains the dominant system today, more than 30 years since its introduction. 

Also Read: NTFS or FAT32 Which File System to Use?

A Structural Explanation Of How An NTFS Setup Would Work And Store Data.

Advantages (And Disadvantages) Of NTFS

That said, NTFS is not a one size fits all solution for everybody. Like all things, it too, has shortcomings, which we will describe below.

Let us take a look at the key advantages and disadvantages of NTFS:

Best represented in table form for easy comprehension:

A key takeaway here is that NTFS file systems are far more prone to data loss than ReFS. 

Data loss is not a question of “if”, but of “when”. When it inevitably happens, NTFS systems have no way of getting their data back natively. 

They would need to use data recovery tools, such as Stellar Windows Data Recovery Software.

All of the reasons above contributed to NTFS becoming the industry standard. That said, the disadvantages are manageable for a personal user.

But once we get to enterprise grade, with high performance machines like servers, the disadvantages become much more limiting.

At the enterprise level, we must take our ReFS vs. NTFS dilemma a lot more seriously..

We need to talk about ReFS. Let's go.

What Is ReFS?

Compared to NTFS, ReFS is quite new, being introduced in 2012 alongside the new 2012 Windows Server. 

ReFS is just as revolutionary today as NTFS was thirty years ago, bringing in a host of new features. 

Key Features of ReFS:

1. Resilience:

As the name suggests, ReFS is designed to be resilient against data corruption. It can automatically detect and repair corrupted data without any downtime.

2. Integrity Streams:

This feature helps protect user data from silent corruption.

3. Storage Spaces Integration:

ReFS is designed to work with Storage Spaces, a feature that allows you to group multiple drives into a single logical pool.

4. Scalability: 

ReFS can handle extremely large volumes and files, making it suitable for high-demand scenarios.

5. Improved Performance:

For certain workloads, especially those involving large files, ReFS can offer better performance than NTFS.

Let us take a deeper look at the capabilities of ReFS, and its practical considerations.

A Rudimentary Explanation Of How Sparse VDL (Valid Data Length) Allocation Works In ReFS.

Advantages (And Disadvantages) Of ReFS

Let us take a look at the key advantages and disadvantages of ReFS:

Once again, best represented in table form for easy comprehension:

Left: NTFS, Right ReFS. A CrystalDiskMark Comparison Of Read/Write Speeds. 

ReFS vs. NTFS: A Comparison

ReFS was not designed to completely replace NTFS, at least not immediately. 

Instead, it was introduced as an alternative for specific use-cases where its features would be most beneficial, such as with Storage Spaces on Windows Server. 

In many Windows setups, both ReFS and NTFS are used together. Companies and individuals can pick ReFS for certain storage areas where its features, like protecting data and handling large amounts of it, are useful. Meanwhile, they can still use NTFS for other storage areas or older systems.

Over time, as ReFS matures and gains more features, it might see broader adoption, but as of now, NTFS remains the default file system for most Windows installations.

However, it can still be useful to understand the key points of difference between NTFS and ReFS. 

Age and Evolution

NTFS has been around since the early '90s, while ReFS was introduced in 2012. This means NTFS has seen more widespread use and has been tested in a variety of scenarios. ReFS, on the other hand, was developed with modern storage needs in mind.

Purpose

While NTFS was designed as a general-purpose file system suitable for both consumer and enterprise use, ReFS was primarily designed for server and enterprise scenarios, especially where data integrity and resilience are paramount.

Feature Set

Some features, like file-level encryption and compression, are available in NTFS but not in ReFS. Conversely, ReFS has features like automatic data corruption repair that NTFS lacks.

The three things that ReFS fixes from NTFS are:

• Data Integrity and Corruption Handling
• Scalability
• Data Deduplication

Also Read: How to Recover Data from NTFS Formatted Hard Drive?

ReFS vs. NTFS: which one should you choose? 

To answer the ReFS vs. NTFS question, we must ask two questions: 

• Can one do something the other cannot? And,
• Can one do something(s) better than the other?

Let's find out.

ReFS can take much better advantage of Storage Spaces, a windows exclusive technology. To learn more about what Storage Spaces is, navigate to this official Microsoft link.

When you pair ReFS with Storage Spaces, you get a match made in heaven.

Here is what ReFS can do in conjunction with Storage Spaces:

• Automatic data corruption detection (background process),
• Automatic corrupted data repair (background process),
• Automatic file metadata coherence testing (background process),
• Block Cloning, which saves a ton of space on VM (Virtual Machines),
• If you are at the cutting edge of technology, ReFS can improve your Hyper-V Machine performance significantly as well.

Also Read: Fix Ntfs.sys Error in Windows 10?

Also Read: How To Convert Raw Partition To NTFS Without Data Loss?

Left: NTFS, Right ReFS. An AS SSD Comparison Of Read/Write Speeds. 

Which one should you choose?

As with so many other things, the answer is, "it depends”. However, we are lucky, in the fact that the ReFS vs. NTFS debate has a clear answer.

If you are a small-scale user, on, say, a personal computer, then NTFS is a far more refined experience.

If you run any sort of professional setup, like a server, Hyper VM’s, or use enterprise grade shared storage, the ReFS is for you. 

However, remember that ReFS cannot be used as a Windows OS boot drive. An easy workaround would be a small SSD used in lieu of a dedicated Boot Drive Partition.

That said, we hope that you have found this article useful, and we will see you in the next one.